Arcia’s mechanics

[DHonks]

It’s been interesting to see Arcia has made a pretty major change in his mechanics. For almost the entire season he has been flying open with his hips, leaving him flailing at outside pitches with his arms (and not his entire body).

 

In the post-season, Arcia has occasionally popped his hips early, but for the most part his hips have been staying squared to the plate/ball and it’s allowing him to drive the ball.

[82brewcrew82]

Hopefully he sees it as well. I truly believe there is a useful bat in there somewhere but I also believe the thing standing in the way of him finding that usefulness is himself.

[Greenleaf1]

There was an article for The Athletic where Arcia said Yelich helped him with his swing and he credits his recent success over the past couple months to him. I'm not a subscriber so I didn't see the details but interesting nonetheless.

 

All year Arcia looked like a guy who couldn't hit in AA let alone the big leagues, but it's really nice to see him driving the ball again and making solid contact on a more regular basis. Arcia with a .700 OPS even would be great next year.

[stalton]

Small Sample Alert but Arcia has just as many homers in the playoffs as the regular season

[Patrick425]

There was an article for The Athletic where Arcia said Yelich helped him with his swing and he credits his recent success over the past couple months to him.

 

If this is true, that is awesome.

[Greenleaf1]

There was an article for The Athletic where Arcia said Yelich helped him with his swing and he credits his recent success over the past couple months to him.

 

If this is true, that is awesome.

 

This is the article, in case anyone subscribes to The Athletic:

 

https://theathletic.com/584925/2018/10/12/i-owe-him-a-lot-a-conversation-with-christian-yelich-highlights-reasons-for-orlando-arcias-resurgence/

[Baldkin]

There was an article for The Athletic where Arcia said Yelich helped him with his swing and he credits his recent success over the past couple months to him.

 

If this is true, that is awesome.

 

It was a pretty good article, but the basics of it were, Yeli started talking to him about how his timing mechanism (his leg kick) was off, and he needed to get his leg down sooner and Arcia started working on that with Coles.

[JohnBriggs12]

There were times last year (2017) when Arcia was the best bat in the lineup. We waited all season for that guy to appear. Timing is everything. His talent is undeniable. A lot has been said about his mechanics. It's partially that but what I've seen since his return from the minors is a level of maturity he was lacking earlier. When his focus matches his talent, he's a star and the team reaps the benefits.

[coolhandluke121]

There were times last year (2017) when Arcia was the best bat in the lineup. We waited all season for that guy to appear. Timing is everything. His talent is undeniable. A lot has been said about his mechanics. It's partially that but what I've seen since his return from the minors is a level of maturity he was lacking earlier. When his focus matches his talent, he's a star and the team reaps the benefits.

 

It was a whole lot of ground ball singles last year though. Not sustainable.

 

If he's still lifting his back foot on his swing all the time, I haven't noticed it. I don't know how someone doesn't come in and put a stop to that the first time it happens, but he picked a good time to stop. He's always had good contact skills, reflexes, and gap power. Always said he reminded me of Gomez and Segura before they figured it out. Hope this is a sign of things to come.

[reillymcshane]

Thanks for bringing this up.

 

I don't watch enough games to notice things like this, but it's encouraging to know that there may be hope that Orlando can develop into a better hitter. His glove is so good, you just want the bat to get to a point that it's acceptable, so he can be counted on as an everyday player.

[KeithStone53151]

Thanks for bringing this up.

 

I don't watch enough games to notice things like this, but it's encouraging to know that there may be hope that Orlando can develop into a better hitter. His glove is so good, you just want the bat to get to a point that it's acceptable, so he can be counted on as an everyday player.

 

Couldn't agree more, his ability to make contact is excellent...at least when he's not swinging at pitches 2 feet off the plate. Good mechanics and a better eye at the plate could yield excellent results. I feel like the Yelich trade was a HR already, if he's helping other guys get better at the plate...I'm not sure how much better that trade can get at this point.

[FVBrewerFan]

There were times last year (2017) when Arcia was the best bat in the lineup. We waited all season for that guy to appear. Timing is everything. His talent is undeniable. A lot has been said about his mechanics. It's partially that but what I've seen since his return from the minors is a level of maturity he was lacking earlier. When his focus matches his talent, he's a star and the team reaps the benefits.

 

It was a whole lot of ground ball singles last year though. Not sustainable.

 

If he's still lifting his back foot on his swing all the time, I haven't noticed it. I don't know how someone doesn't come in and put a stop to that the first time it happens, but he picked a good time to stop. He's always had good contact skills, reflexes, and gap power. Always said he reminded me of Gomez and Segura before they figured it out. Hope this is a sign of things to come.

 

You may be right, but I don't remember it that way. I recall a lot of line drives to RF/CF and driving the ball out of the park to LF. The other thing I love about him is there's no stage too big for him. He's so confident that he'll keep hacking without thinking/guessing too much. There's a downside to that of course, but not a bad trait to have in the post-season- especially at the bottom of the order.

[Greenleaf1]

I'm not much for identifying faulty swing mechanics, but with Arcia it was clear as day that he could not keep that back foot set for whatever reason and it was not surprising that he put up one of the worst full season performances in baseball at the plate this year. When a guy with defense that good still has a negative WAR, it's not good.

 

He does seem to be putting together better ABs lately (he looked impressive in Game 163 and has put some good swings on pitches in the postseason so far, with great results to show for it). Sometimes he's up their hacking and his walk totals will likely always be low, but if he can get back to being the contact hitter he was and keep his mechanics in check, he should produce enough to stick at SS for the next 5 years and provide solid value as a 2-3 WAR guy in the 8-hole which is actually a very valuable player.

[TURBO]

Too bad Coles couldn't have been the one to help Arcia out of his funk, you know, the hitting coach?

[reillymcshane]

Article about Arcia and his adjustments on JSonline.

 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2018/10/15/after-rocky-regular-season-orlando-arcia-becomes-brewers-mr-october/1645818002/

 

"The main focus is just getting my (front) foot down, getting 'loaded' early and being able to recognize pitches. And I think that's what I've been able to do, and everything just takes care of itself."

[Baldkin]

Too bad Coles couldn't have been the one to help Arcia out of his funk, you know, the hitting coach?

 

Wait, oh yeah, he actually did. But, I'm sure you want him fired too.

 

The days were long and the workouts tedious. Arcia worked with hitting coach Darnell Coles on implementing the change. The results were not immediate – the work did not consistently translate to games. But in workouts with Coles, progress was steady.

 

There were no specific drills. The work consisted of batting practice and work on the side with Coles.

[TURBO]

Too bad Coles couldn't have been the one to help Arcia out of his funk, you know, the hitting coach?

 

Wait, oh yeah, he actually did. But, I'm sure you want him fired too.

 

The days were long and the workouts tedious. Arcia worked with hitting coach Darnell Coles on implementing the change. The results were not immediate – the work did not consistently translate to games. But in workouts with Coles, progress was steady.

 

There were no specific drills. The work consisted of batting practice and work on the side with Coles.

 

Salty...

[SRB]

Since September 1:

 

95 PA, .311/.337/.474/.811

[igor67]

My only complaint with those numbers is that I would hope a guy hitting .311 would at least walk enough to have a .350 OBP. But sometimes those come later when you've established that your enough of a threat that they pitch more carefully.

[stalton]

My only complaint with those numbers is that I would hope a guy hitting .311 would at least walk enough to have a .350 OBP. But sometimes those come later when you've established that your enough of a threat that they pitch more carefully.

 

To play devil's advocate, doesn't the 8th hitter normally have to swing more than typical because he has the pitcher behind him?

[Greenleaf1]

Arcia doesn't walk much, but when he's on he makes a lot of contact so his low walk rate is mitigated somewhat by a low strikeout rate.

 

Obviously his K-rate spiked this year, up 5% from last year, but he also had a lot of other issues this year so we'll see what it looks like next year.

 

Hoping this year is just an adjustment year and he's back to the .700 OPS guy I think most of us expected him to be with elite defense.

[1Badgerfan]

A buddy of mine mentioned that Arcia’s HR swing the other night looked like Baez. Does look similar in the few videos I watched. Would be nice if it translates to remotely similar production, or heck even the average of the two of them.

[3and2Fastball]

Lifting the back foot? Like Ruth, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Harper, Miguel Cabrera, Frank Thomas, & Trout?!? It's always interesting reading different perspectives on hitting, that is for sure!

 

I think Arcia's mechanics are fine. Outside looking in, his struggles might have been more about pitch selection. MLB pitchers adjusted to him and he needed time to adjust back. I'm sure he needed to make a few mechanical adjustments too. So much of hitting is feel. I would guess there might have been issues with focus at times too. A focused Arcia is a dangerous dude. In the playoffs he looks dialed in. A very very valuable player.

[coolhandluke121]

Lifting the back foot? Like Ruth, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Harper, Miguel Cabrera, Frank Thomas, & Trout?!? It's always interesting reading different perspectives on hitting, that is for sure!

 

 

Eh, obviously it can be done but it wasn't a remotely smooth operation for him. His timing was awful and it's better to limit extraneous movement when you're having trouble with your swing to begin with. He was lifting the foot before his swing even started.