Quadrant hitting – Part 1

Say what you want about Alex Rodriguez’s personal decisions over his career but you have to give him credit for his knowledge of hitting.  I don’t know about you but I loved listening to him as one of the playoff announcers. There were many great insights he made but one stood out because it reminded me of a post I created awhile back called How to hit a 100mph fastball.

He was asked by another announcer how he would approach an at-bat if he had to face a guy like the Mets Jacob deGrom who has filthy stuff and throws in the upper 90’s.  A-Rod immediately said you have to have a game-plan (great advice on its own) and become a quadrant hitter (also great advice).  That was basically the same point I made in the previous post linked above.  The picture to the right is a visual of what he was talking about.

When you face a pitcher with nasty stuff, you simply will not be able to cover the entire plate.  The pitcher will eat you alive if you try.  As a batter, your game plan involves looking for the ball in a particular quadrant.  If you get it, you can’t miss it.  That’s how you attack good pitching and that’s how a batter hits a 100mph fastball.

However, deciding to be a quadrant hitter is just half the battle.  The second half deals with the next big question …

Do you pick the quadrant you are best at hitting or do you pick the quadrant where you think the pitcher will throw it?  

That’s Part 2.

Until Monday, have a great weekend!