This is mostly an excuse to share three really cool gifs I found (care of @Kazuto_Yamazaki), but I’m sure you’ll pardon me for doing so as we look at the development of Anthony Rizzo‘s dangerous swing:
Rizzo 2013 pic.twitter.com/rS9awkYm7Q
— Dustin Lind (@dustinlind) January 6, 2016
Rizzo 2014 pic.twitter.com/ouEjUkEHcS
— Dustin Lind (@dustinlind) January 6, 2016
Rizzo 2015 pic.twitter.com/Gch98n0cgP
— Dustin Lind (@dustinlind) January 6, 2016
The 2013 is slowed down a bit, and the 2014 gif is shot at a slightly different angle, but in each shot, it looks like Rizzo has the same lower body stance. I think the hands kept getting lower through the three gifs, and may be important in explaining how he was able to hammer left-handed pitching so much better in 2014 and 2015 relative to his down season in 2013. I’m sure it’s been written about before and there are likely other videos and vantage points we can use, but these three gifs do suggest that the consistent lower body movement coupled with a change of hand position may have been all it took to make a regular power guy into a potential superstar. You can’t see him relative to the plate, but I’m sure he’s crowding it a lot more in the 2014 and 2015 pictures, which is a significant reason why his hit-by-pitch numbers skyrocketed (he led the league in 2015). The hands are quick, the swing seems shortened, and the way he moves his hands makes the bat stay level and in the zone for a very long time, which I believe is very important to generate the type of power we’ve become accustomed to seeing from Rizzo.
I’m reasonably sure smarter folks than I have seen this already, but I might have missed it and it’s fun to share these gifs anyway.
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