The Drop: Player Projection & Evaluation - Offense

Following the pitching projection/evaluation discussion, we turn our attention to the other side of the ball. Some wifflers believe that hitting a wiffleball is one of the hardest things to do in any sport. It can also be difficult (if not impossible) to replicate top-level pitching outside of game situations. So how do young hitters grow? What are the fundamental aspects of a good wiffleball hitter? How long does it take to develop into the hitter you are ultimately going to be? We tackle all of this and more in this edition of The DROP Podcast!

00:00 - 06:00 - Winter Classic update

06:00 -  08:45 - The challenges of practicing and developing as a hitter in your “backyard” (i.e. away from facing quality pitchers in a game situation)

08:45 - 10:10 - Wiffleball / Soccer analogy re: low scoring environments.

10:10 - 17:00 - Given that low run scoring environment, what do you look for in a young hitter (power, patience, etc.)?; combination of patience & power (Ryan McElrath)

17:00 - 29:15 - Are there are fundamentals to baseball hitting that may need to be “unlearned” for wiffleball or is a baseball background always beneficial?; Number of plate appearances until a hitter is who/she is going to be (1,200 PA’s is the MLB benchmark, 500-600 PA’s for wiffs?); The Naturals as an example of top level baseball hitters transitioning to wiffleball.

29:15 - 32:35 - Yellow bat talk

32:35 - 36:00 - What makes Ben Stant such a good hitter?

36:00 - 40:15 - Favorite hitters to currently watch in MAW (Stant, Kenny Rodgers Jr., Jimmy Cole); What can young/inexperienced hitters learn from watching those three players?

40:15 - 49:00 - Putting the barrel to the ball rather than a big swing (using a pitcher’s velocity against him); Guessing/anticipating a pitch or location (Tom LoCascio).

49:00 - 52:50 - What “young” hitter in MAW do you think will take a big step forward in 2020 (Gino Joseph, Tommy Loftus, Cam Farro)?

52:50 - END - Wrapping up (2 strike count, lineup protection)