SLIDER

[Ghostbear]

My Oh My, watch the slider go by. Take the first pitch down the middle, then strike out on the slider down and outside.  Hmmm? I think this is the number one evil for the Brewer's hitters.  The question becomes, WHY? Here's a little story from years and years ago. I was a high school baseball coach and was privileged that myself and my assistant Merlin (wrestling coach) got to go to the coaches seminars in Chicago every year.  At those seminars we were blessed to meet great, great baseball players. We met Henry Aaron three times. The coaches got to ask questions. Hank was a nice, humble, intelligent guy.  When he was asked how he learned how to hit, he told the story of collecting bottle caps from the soda machines where he lived when he was a kid, he said: "I got so I could hit 200 in row, throwing them up and hitting them with a broom stick that I cut off."  When asked how he knew what was coming (AND HERE"S THE POINT), he said: " I read the seams." When asked how he was able to do that, he said:" I watch the ball, from the time the pitcher gets it to the time he releases it."  When asked if he watched the pitcher, he said: "Doesn't matter, watch the ball, read the seams."     I write this, because it is very  obvious to me, the Brewers hitters spend too much time and focus on the pitcher.  Last night watching Sales was a perfect example.  So, my question is:  Don't the Brewers have hitting coaches that teach the hitters to: 1) Relax, a relaxed muscle is much quicker than a tense one, 2) keep your bat up and back where your swing is a flat, line-drive swing, the probabilities of getting hits, when you hit a line drive is much, much greater when it's a line drive, 3) coach the hitters to ignore who the hell the pitcher is, focus on the ball from the time the pitcher gets it in his hand to the point of release. This will train your eyes so you can "READ THE SEAMS," SO YOU, AS THE HITTER, CAN TELL A SLIDER FROM A FASTBALL, AND CHANGE UP FROM A SLIDER." COME ON COACHES, GET WITH IT. TEACH THESE GUYS TO RELAX AND READ THE SEAMS. QUIT WATCHING THE PITCHER. HE'S JUST THE MESSENGER. THE BALL IS WHAT IS DELIVERED. 

[adambr2]

Going to need the TLDR version.

[Playing Catch]

12 hours ago, adambr2 said:

Going to need the TLDR version.

"The Brewers hitting coaches don't know what they're doing. They should teach hitters to "read the seams," like the great Aaron once told Ghostbear".

[Jopal78]

Man, I’d sure like to be a Brewer hitting coach.  Don’t have to have any clue on how to help hitters besides watching the ball spin. No communication skills, analytical skills, tireless work ethic. Yet you get a multi year guarantee for hundreds of thousands of dollars and spend each summer traveling around to major US cities, wine, women staying in the fanciest hotels, private first class air travel. 

[liveforoctober]

This is really funny. Hitting/pitching is so different today than during the Kennedy administration. "Read the seams". Paul Skenes would strike out 600 hitters if he pitched in the 70s.

[Brian]

15 hours ago, Ghostbear said:

So, my question is:  Don't the Brewers have hitting coaches?

No they don't, at least not a very good one,  Al LeBoeuf is minor league quality at the very best.  We need an upgrade at hitting coach absolutely no question about it.  I have been complaining about this for a year and a half now. 

https://www.teamrankings.com/mlb/stat/runs-per-game 

[Playing Catch]

52 minutes ago, Brian said:

No they don't, at least not a very good one,  Al LeBoeuf is minor league quality at the very best.  We need an upgrade at hitting coach absolutely no question about it.  I have been complaining about this for 2 full years with zero support, https://www.teamrankings.com/mlb/stat/runs-per-game 

It's interesting to me that their home/road splits are so distinct (4th fewest runs scored at home, 3rd most scored on the road). I'll bet season ticket holders are especially frustrated by the lack of runs at home.

[sveumrules]

6 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

It's interesting to me that their home/road splits are so distinct (4th fewest runs scored at home, 3rd most scored on the road). I'll bet season ticket holders are especially frustrated by the lack of runs at home.

I dunno, I think the season ticket holders would enjoy the 20 W - 13 L home record so far (never mind the -5 run differential).

Meanwhile all those road runs (& the corresponding +35 differential) have only shaken out to a 16 W - 19 L record.

[Underachiever]

27 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

I dunno, I think the season ticket holders would enjoy the 20 W - 13 L home record so far (never mind the -5 run differential).

Meanwhile all those road runs (& the corresponding +35 differential) have only shaken out to a 16 W - 19 L record.

Yeah, but if you take out those 20 wins it’s a really bad record. (They are 3-11 with me in the crowd since beginning of 2024, so that’s what it feels like for me)

[CheezWizHed]

On 6/11/2025 at 9:03 AM, liveforoctober said:

This is really funny. Hitting/pitching is so different today than during the Kennedy administration. "Read the seams". Paul Skenes would strike out 600 hitters if he pitched in the 70s.

Care to elaborate on that?  Do you think players today don't watch the seams to see the spin of the ball? 

Plus, 600 Ks in the 70s isn't that good... that is only 60 Ks/year....

[Jim French Stepstool]

I dunno, after reading all this I feel confident that we can hit Sonny Gray tonite.

I'm just not sure how we can get him to throw us bottle caps instead of baseballs.

[liveforoctober]

3 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

Care to elaborate on that?  Do you think players today don't watch the seams to see the spin of the ball? 

Plus, 600 Ks in the 70s isn't that good... that is only 60 Ks/year....

I understand I'm speaking a little out of pocket when referencing something Hank Aaron said - but "read the seams" usually refers to sitting fastball and watching arm slot/ball in hand from a pitcher to catch his grip and adjust from there. That works when Chris Bosio is throwing you an 88 mph fastball and a 74 mph curve and that is the whole arsenal (no disrespect).

Paul Skenes throws like 14 pitches from the same arm slot and they all move a different way. Anyone who says they are reading the spin out of his hand and correctly identifying which way the ball is moving is selling you a song.

There is still an aspect of "read the seams" that apply to the game ... but it is more about seeing the grip rather than reading the spin. When an announcer says a pitcher "hides it well" ... he is referring to not allowing a batter to see the grip before release. But even then everyone has tape of everything these days. Lazardo from Philly faced Mil/Tor in back to back starts and gave up a million runs then 5 days later shuts down the best* offense in baseball while striking out 10. Why? He was tipping pitches, saw it on film and fixed it. Batters knew what pitch was coming during his windup ... they weren't correctly identifying the pitch midflight. 

[Underachiever]

3 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

Care to elaborate on that?  Do you think players today don't watch the seams to see the spin of the ball? 

Plus, 600 Ks in the 70s isn't that good... that is only 60 Ks/year....

I read it as throwing in the 70 mph range.

[torts]

They read the seams