3/29 GT: Hancock on Peacock @ 4:20

[Donn Beach]

Crawfords has been one of the more disciplined hitters in baseball. He doesn't swing out of the zone a great deal. He will swing at pitches he should swing at, the problem was hard contact. He could hit them, he just couldn't do anything with them when he did. I believe his hard contact rate has been going up last couple seasons

Donovan on the other hand doesn't hit for power but he's good at making hard contact. He swings in the zone and hits the ball hard. His velocity is mediocre so he doesn't give you a lot of power but he can come up with solid base hits.

That's how I understand it, we shall see but so far so good

[Seattle or Bust]

Crawfords has been one of the more disciplined hitters in baseball. He doesn't swing out of the zone a great deal. He will swing at pitches he should swing at, the problem was hard contact. He could hit them, he just couldn't do anything with them when he did. I believe his hard contact rate has been going up last couple seasons

Donovan on the other hand doesn't hit for power but he's good at making consistent hard contact. He swings in the zone and hits the ball hard. His velocity is mediocre so he doesn't give you a lot of power but he can come up with solid base hits.

That's how I understand it, we shall see but so far so good

I think JP is good at reading the ball out of the pitcher's hand when he decides he wants to be more selective. He knows how to take balls. When he swings it's much more of a free for all. Not much a plan for what he's looking for and where he'd like to drive it... which is why he often looks like a fool when he swings.

Donovan, on the other hand, has an intention when he swings. He's got a goal for what he's going to do depending on the situation. He knows how to take the ball to a part of the field depending on what pitch he's getting and he executes that well. He's also a swinger... wanting to be aggressive to put the ball in play.

Donovan also knows his limitations... JP doesn't. In the interview today Donovan said he wasn't trying to hit a home run... he said he was trying to take the ball up the middle... but the ball got a bit in on him which allowed him to turn on it and drive it to right field. JP just swings out of his shoes most the time and hopes he makes hard contact.

I often say that "placing" a baseball is a lost art that does not require insane exit velocity to be effective. What I see from Donovan early is that he's skilled at placing a baseball where the defense isn't. Edgar and Ichiro come to mind as being great placers of the baseball too.

[D-train]

Brady Farkas
@RefuseToLosePod
#Mariners postgame notes:

--Brendan Donovan said it was one of the coldest games he's ever played in
--Really interesting answer on his hitting style in this ballpark, says he tries to hit it on a line other way and in the air pull side.

Amazing, a guy that actually has an approach. Maybe he won't fall off the cliff.

As opposed to watching JP Crawford swing for the fences night after night, same swing every time, gets lucky when he actually connects.

Sure but we are both missing those dreads. lol

[Donn Beach]

Crawfords has been one of the more disciplined hitters in baseball. He doesn't swing out of the zone a great deal. He will swing at pitches he should swing at, the problem was hard contact. He could hit them, he just couldn't do anything with them when he did. I believe his hard contact rate has been going up last couple seasons

Donovan on the other hand doesn't hit for power but he's good at making consistent hard contact. He swings in the zone and hits the ball hard. His velocity is mediocre so he doesn't give you a lot of power but he can come up with solid base hits.

That's how I understand it, we shall see but so far so good

I think JP is good at reading the ball out of the pitcher's hand when he decides he wants to be more selective. He knows how to take balls. When he swings it's much more of a free for all. Not much a plan for what he's looking for and where he'd like to drive it... which is why he often looks like a fool when he swings.

Donovan, on the other hand, has an intention when he swings. He's got a goal for what he's going to do depending on the situation. He knows how to take the ball to a part of the field depending on what pitch he's getting and he executes that well. He's also a swinger... wanting to be aggressive to put the ball in play.

Donovan also knows his limitations... JP doesn't. In the interview today Donovan said he wasn't trying to hit a home run... he said he was trying to take the ball up the middle... but the ball got a bit in on him which allowed him to turn on it and drive it to right field. JP just swings out of his shoes most the time and hopes he makes hard contact.

I often say that "placing" a baseball is a lost art that does not require insane exit velocity to be effective. What I see from Donovan early is that he's skilled at placing a baseball where the defense isn't. Edgar and Ichiro come to mind as being great placers of the baseball too.

I've always thought of Crawford having this odd profile. JP Crawford is good at hitting a baseball. The problem is he's not good at hitting a baseball