I have never been a big league hitter. I received some hitting instruction as a youth, but it was mostly “keep your eye on the ball”, “be a hitter”, and “stop adjusting yourself down there so much.” Big leaguers get all sorts of more sophisticated hitting advice from not only their hitting coach, but the assistant hitting coach, the assistant to the assistant hitting coach, the director of hitting, the doctor of hit-ology, and the Chief Strategic Officer for Launch Angle Excellence and Exit Velocity Innovation. And that’s only within the organization! They also probably have their own personal hitting coach, a hitting academy they visit in the off-season, their dad (make contact or I’m not visiting you this holiday season!), and their buddy Little Jim, who thinks everyone would hit .300 if they just stopped swinging for their fences (its just that easy!).
So I don’t really know what Alec Zumwalt, the Royals’ Director of Hitting Performance, actually does. But he is in charge of overseeing how the Royals develop hitters. And in case you haven’t noticed, the Royals have not been particularly good at hitting over the last two seasons. They finished last year with the fifth-fewest runs scored per game and were abysmal with runners in scoring position. This year they got off to a very similar start, burying the team in the standings early on. There were calls to fire Zumwalt. Even from me!
They don’t walk. They don’t hit for power. They swing too much, chase too much, and yet, are far too patient on the first pitch. They hit too many flyballs for a team that doesn’t hit the ball hard. They are also terrible at hitting fastballs, which should be the easiest pitch to hit. In short, while Zumwalt has advocated for a strategy of identifying a good pitch to hit and doing damage to it, the Royals have utterly failed.
Yet despite a growing list of injuries, the offense has begun to flourish this month. Royals hitters are batting .284/.349/.460 in June, with a 121 wRC+ that ranks seventh in baseball, and they are second in the majors with 5.9 runs per game.
Arguably Zumwalt’s most important job has been overseeing the development of the Royals’ two prized hitting prospects—Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone. Those two lefty power hitters are the future of this lineup, and brother, the future is starting to look really bright. Jensen is hitting .280/.325/.507 this month, and has his season wRC+ at 100, which is impressive considering the average rookie catcher has a wRC+ of 81.
Meanwhile, Caglianone is on another planet right now. A planet of home run-hitting beasts! This month, he is hitting .373/.453/.773 with nine home runs and a 10.5 percent walk rate. His June wRC+ of 232 is better than anyone in baseball, save for Pete Crow-Armstrong.
And it does appear that the hitters have made changes. As friend of the site Jack Johnson pointed out, Jensen has opened his stance and moved his hands up.
Jac Caglianone has also appeared to make some changes, simplifying his stance and shortening the distance between his bat and the ball.
Now don’t get me wrong, the offense overall is still near the bottom of the league. Those shutouts back in April still count, and the team buried itself in a hole that may be too deep to escape from. Zumwalt is responsible for more than just two hitters, and the Royals have received disappointing production from Vinnie Pasquantino, Salvador Perez, Jonathan India, and Isaac Collins.
But those are veterans, many of whom may have been dealing with injuries much of the season. Hitting coaches and coordinators often have a greater impact on younger players than on established veterans who already have years of ingrained habits. And it is not just Jensen and Caglianone that are coming on, the Royals have gotten impressive offensive streaks from young hitters like Michael Massey and Nick Loftin lately that could provide more depth to the lineup.
As the injuries pile up, this is looking more and more like a lost season. But the Royals could use this as an evaluation season for several young hitters. And at least this month, they look like they could be on the right track. I’m not ready to issue a full mea culpa to Zumwalt quite yet, but the recent results suggest something may be working.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.royalsreview.com ’
