MLB’s ‘freelancing’ hitters on upswing

A new season is upon us and there’s a revolution going on. Serious fans are familiar with analytics.

No longer are scouts, eye tests and gut feelings the only way.

Gone are the days that eight guys knew they were the regulars no matter who was pitching. If a player’s record against a certain pitcher is not good, he doesn’t play.

Success rate of the sacrifice bunt, success rate of the stolen base, swinging in certain counts, everything is now swayed by statistical analysis.

This spring I learned that a slight upward swing plane is the optimum for creating productive contact. More simply put, hitters now want the ball in the air, not on the ground.

Here’s the first thing you need to know to support this theory. The average major league fastball arrives at home plate at 85.2 mph on a 6-degree angle of decline. Players today are now coached that a zero-degree plane creates what the pitcher wants, groundballs.

To be on a level plane with the pitch, the swing would be slightly up. To be on a home run plane, the ideal would be 10 to 20 degrees up through the equator of the ball.

This data has convinced several of today’s hitters to buy in. Wouldn’t this open your eyes to the possibility of trying an upward swing?

It’s easier. It’s natural, it’s what you did in Little League or your backyard when dad tossed you a Wiffle ball. You tried to launch it in the air. You didn’t have any responsibility like getting on base, advancing runners or protecting the plate. You had no accountability then.

As a pro you do, albeit not enough.

What percentage of balls in the air are safe hits vs. balls on the ground? Remove line drives and compare groundballs to flyballs, what then? Add in offspeed pitches, the great equalizers.

And what about hitting a ball with backspin? My experience tells me that can only be done with a descending swing plane. An upward plane creates topspin.

I call this new approach to hitting “freelancing.”

It’s hitters having fun, more of an all-or-nothing approach with little accountability. Home runs and runs scored have gone up over the last five years, as have strikeouts. Hitters are facing shifting defenses and high fastballs that increase their chance of making an out.

Isn’t a hitter’s goal to not make an out? Maybe that’s old school. Today an out is an out — why not take the risk of a home run and live with the strikeouts?

I spent 20 years studying and experimenting with different approaches to hitting.

One, for sure, what the optimum swing plane should be. But I didn’t have analytics at my disposal.

Would I have changed with this new information? I don’t know.

I became a complete hitter and had my finest days when I eliminated the uppercut. It

So with small ballparks, loaded bats and the lure of millions for home runs, why not groove the uppercut? Sounds like fun. Fans in the outfield, bring your gloves.