Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Andre Ethier Visits A Mechanic

Andre Ethier, who had that torrid 30-game hitting streak in the beginning of the season, but then slumped, took a little break from playing last week to diagnose the problem with his swing. And guess what: it's all about mechanics:

Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier is starting to emerge from his recent two-week slump, something he said is a result of breaking some bad habits he developed during his 30-game hitting streak at the start of the season.

Ethier began Tuesday's game batting .571 (eight for 14) with two doubles, a home run and four runs batted in over the first four games of the Dodgers' current homestand.

He credited Manager Don Mattingly's decision to hold him out of the lineup from Friday to Sunday in Houston. He said he spent those three days working on his swing.

"Balance, hands, body positioning, everything," he said.

Ethier said there was something mechanically wrong with his swing during his hitting streak, which spanned from April 2 to May 6.

"I don't think I ever had a good feeling during the streak, really," Ethier said. "I was just getting hits. I think that was the problem."

Great to have you back, Andre! Now, if you could please get that mechanic to go take a look under the hood of Juan Uribe, James Loney, Jay Gibbons, Juan Castro, Jerry Sands (for that matter, almost anyone in the lineup with a first initial "J"), Rod Barajas, Rafael Furcal, Tony Gwynn, and Dioner Navarro, that would be great. Maybe we can get a bulk discount (especially if Uribe and Navarro are involved)?

If we only had a former hitting coach, known for his hitting prowess during his playing career, around somewhere to leverage his knowledge...

2 comments:

Neeebs (The Original) said...

What about Donnie?

Josh S. said...

Looks like Loney has fixed his mechanics.