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Aaand the Tigers have DFA’d Charlie Morton.
WHO is surprised he wasn’t good? Other than Scott Harris?
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# After reaching ‘all-time low,’ swing change brings Tigers’ Jace Jung back to big leagues
full article at link.
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It took him four months and a lot of rough, rough days to sort it out. Toledo hitting coach Mike Hessman was instrumental in guiding him through the entire process.
“The first couple of weeks, I think I struck out every time,” Jung said.
Almost. In 36 games from May 16 to July 2, he struck out 48 times in 152 plate appearances (31%), hitting .195 with a .358 slugging percentage.
“When I first started, it felt like my hands were at my hips,” Jung said. “It took time to get used to that feeling of hands being there. They used to be here (holding them up at his chest), I’ve brought them to here (holding them at his stomach) but it felt like they were here (holding them at his hips).
“It was a big adjustment, especially at midseason. But the difference is I feel like I can hit anything now.”
In the 55 games he played with Toledo after July 2, he slashed .288/.373/.491 with an .864 OPS and nine homers. He struck out 55 times in 255 plate appearances (21.5%).
“Recently he’s been hitting velocity better,” Hinch said. “He’s making better adjustments in-game. And we need that to continue, not only for the time he is up here, but for him to factor in next season.”
With Colt Keith (ribs) out for the rest of the regular season, Jung could have a chance to impact critical games down the stretch. It’s what he dreamed about as he slogged through the early days of the swing change
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“One of the most difficult things to do is to make these adjustments during competition,” manager AJ Hinch said. “It’s one thing to be in the facility (during the offseason). There’s no failure in the facility.
“There’s only failure in competition.”
…“Just a real rough patch,” Jace Jung said.
Before the Tigers sent him out, Hinch, president Scott Harris and the Tigers’ big-league hitting staff showed him why they thought he was having trouble catching up to big-league velocity (he was 2 for 25 against fastballs). It was about where he was placing his hands.
They wanted him to place them lower.
It wasn’t the first time the Tigers suggested this to him. Jung, who had known nothing but success as a hitter using his unconventional hand placement where he almost laid the bat flat before going into his swing.
This time, the Tigers were more insistent on him making the change.
“There’s a fine line between letting a player be natural, letting his natural gifts come out,” Hinch said. “But when there is a fatal flaw, we have to draw a line and demand adjustment.”
This time, though, Jung didn’t push back.
“Because I wanted to get back to the big leagues,” he said. “Ultimately, that’s my goal. Get to the big leagues and stay in the big leagues. So that was my get-back. Make the change and get back to the big leagues as soon as possible.”
The Tigers also showed him tangible evidence to support their case, video of some of the more prominent left-handed hitters in the game who deploy their hands similarly to the way they were asking Jung to place his hands.
“They brought good information to me,” he said. “Just about the change and certain people in the league right now that are absolutely killing it. Just kind of like how their swings are and how my swing could be.
“That was like a no-brainer after seeing all the names they brought to my face. I was like, ‘Yeah, it’d be nice to be like that.’”
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they could take those accomplished left-handed hitters and show Jung that even though there is a uniqueness to each of them, they all get themselves to the same spot with their hands to and through the hitting zone.
“With Jace, it was a little bit of a bigger adjustment to get his hands in a better position,” Hinch said. “His hands are one of his biggest strengths. His eyesight and bat-to-ball skills are pretty good and his swing decisions are pretty good.
“But the actual swing path needed to change. Some of that is hand setup, some of that his direction. It takes time and it takes reps and it takes at-bats. It’s been a long road for him this season to test out a lot of different things.”
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For those who are wondering who the heck is Tanner Rainey, me, here is a little tidbit
Rainey has had bursts of success mostly interrupted by injury. It hasn’t been sustained for very long but when he’s on he gets people out
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Harris is the man
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Do you think the plan is to drop Rainey into Mortons starting spot against the Guardians?
It’ll also be interesting to see if Olson tries to make it back into the rotation “if” the Tigers make the playoffs.
The Last Tiger home game we went to was after the all star break and they had lost 12 of 13 games. We won and went on a big winning streak. Only to fall back into this slump.
Let’s hope we’re the luck charm they need again!
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Enjoy the game brother. The entire state of Michigan is counting on you.
I can’t get the game here and don’t feel like going to the bar to watch it, from the radio call sounded like that was a broken bat bloop single. If it can go wrong it is right now.
I also missed that the Braves have won seven straight, sheesh.
I didn’t see if the bat broke…
but is was a blooper
2 guys on with zero outs….
and the 3-4-5 hitters go weak fly ball, strikeout. strikeout.
Doesn’t look like the bats are going wake up today either.
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