CJ Abrams has that look this 12 months. After exhibiting a glimpse of his offensive potential in 2023, his expertise are on full show to begin the season. Abrams’ projectable body at all times appeared prefer it might facilitate him including energy. Whether or not he ever obtained to that energy was depending on his swing mechanics.
Up till this 12 months, the lefty had a steep, pushy entry into the hitting zone. That resulted in a suboptimal launch angle distribution. In 2023, he had a 32.6% sweet-spot charge, which was within the thirtieth percentile. (A participant’s candy spot proportion is outlined as the proportion of their batted balls hit between eight and 32 levels.) So as an alternative of hitting balls at launch angles that might end in line drives and hard-hit fly balls, Abrams hit a ton of popups and groundballs. His swing had a restricted vary of high quality contact factors.
He might have swatted 18 dwelling runs, however these lengthy balls have been combined in with constant mishits. Once you swing down into the hitting zone like Abrams did final 12 months, it may lead you to be what lots of hitting coaches name a collision hitter. In case your bat path doesn’t have a lot room for error, you would possibly nonetheless run into some homers sometimes, however there may be solely a decent window for you to take action. Fairly than your barrel transferring up by means of your entire hitting zone, it solely does so at one level in area. That is perhaps laborious to conceptualize, so let’s take a look at some video of Abrams final 12 months, focusing totally on how his palms descend when he begins his swing.
2023
All of those swings are towards four-seamers of varied velocities. Most of them are someplace close to the center plate or on the interior third. I made a decision to indicate these zones as a result of when a batter swings down like Abrams did right here, they miss hittable pitches. Or if you wish to consider it from a special perspective, your swing slices by means of the ball as an alternative of contacting it head on.
A swing towards a 98 mph heater from Grayson Rodriguez is perhaps slightly unfair to indicate — that’s an especially troublesome location to barrel at excessive velocity — however I did so for a cause. When you’re getting on airplane at a deeper depth, you could be late on this pitch and foul it again, and even get jammed. When you’re swinging down, late timing goes to end in a chopper or a whiff (because it did right here). Even if you scale it again a number of ticks and transfer the pitch into the center of the plate, like what Abrams noticed towards Joe JimĂ©nez, you continue to lower beneath the ball. It won’t occur on each pitch, however swings like this have been fairly widespread for Abrams final season. Within the middle-middle zone, he had only a .362 xwOBACON. That’s considerably beneath league common.
It’s a regarding profile. The perfect massive league hitters have swings geared in the direction of crushing errors. Which means getting on airplane for middle-middle pitches and adjusting accordingly relying on the state of affairs. Abrams’ setup and cargo weren’t permitting him to do this, so he made a change. Earlier than entering into the specifics, let’s take a look at some video from this season so you possibly can see for your self.
2024
Pitchers haven’t had any luck towards Abrams this 12 months once they make errors. He’s parking these pitches over the wall or within the hole. This season, his xwOBACON on pitches within the middle-middle zone is .661. Sheesh! Discuss a turnaround. And when you go away the pitch middle-in, you’re much more doomed. His xwOBACON in that zone sits at 1.225. Dude has been a strolling barrel. As an alternative of the 32.6% sweet-spot charge he posted final 12 months, he’s sporting a 48.2% mark. That sits within the 97th percentile. Abrams won’t have light-tower energy, however he hits the ball laborious sufficient that he’s going to make pitchers pay for his or her errors.
As you possibly can see within the video, he’s accomplished that by elevating his palms and altering the angle of his barrel throughout his setup. I say this in nearly each piece I write, however to alter the angle of your barrel when it enters the zone, it’s important to change the way you arrange. Making a easy, reciprocal motion is repeatable, and preferable to forcing your palms to do one thing your physique isn’t naturally anticipating. The change is greatest seen by means of a slowed-down zoom.
2023
2024
There’s something in regards to the 2024 GIF that appears so rhythmic. You’ll be able to watch it time and again, and it seems to be so easy. On this nearer look, you possibly can see how the change has resulted in his backside hand getting concerned throughout his swing. Final 12 months, it simply stayed in place and wasn’t doing a lot to information the barrel. The items are all linked now, with the underside hand contributing. As his entrance elbow descends, you possibly can see how properly it connects together with his leg elevate. I like to match how hitters and pitchers join their higher and decrease our bodies. In hitting, it may be accomplished with a easy load and leg elevate (like what Abrams has created); in pitching, an overhead motion within the windup serves the identical function.
The leap in Abrams’ contact high quality because of this modification is fairly stunning. His .494 total xwOBACON is within the prime decile of the league. He has now tailor-made his swing in the direction of crushing errors. Even when he has an excessively aggressive strategy with an excessive amount of chase, he’s nonetheless going to get to middle-middle pitches. That’s a precious trait to have. When the inevitable droop comes, the facility will nonetheless be there to hold him by means of.
It’s at all times troublesome to say what an early season development like it will imply within the long-term. Like I stated, Abrams remains to be very chase inclined. His chase charge was 35.1% final 12 months and is 41.0% this 12 months. He’s uber aggressive and is certain to get a gentle dose of breaking balls within the coming weeks. But when this adjustment continues to propel above-average contact high quality for the primary time in his profession, our priors are compelled to alter. For now, he has proven an enormous enchancment in a single necessary space of hitting — and that’s nice for Washington’s future.
All stats are as of April twenty third
