Morgan Ensberg

Seems like his front knee fans open early. Also appears to me he has some bat drag. I don't really like this swing too much. I wonder if he was fooled by an offspeed pitch or something? Does appear to have good rotation around his middle though.

Ensberg is very inconsistent. And, this swing is a good example. Very arm dominant in this swing. Rolls over very quickly. Some disconnection between upper and lower body. although his lower body action is decent it doesn't flow into his upper body. Arms take over.

Certainly not his best swing.

When he puts it together I like what he brings to the table. But as Linear stated very inconsistant as his performance suggests.

FYI... The pitch was a 95mph fastball.

Jason

Anyone would be happy with that swing.

Timing is great considering 95MPH FB.

He has great reaction ability in pitch recognition which cannot be taught> it's a gift.

Shep Knows

He's a major league all-star. Enough said. One in 750 in this world on any given day during the season.

The swing shown here is horrible.

He has a good swing. It isn't always there.

This one is not it.

He flares open, pauses then swings with his arms. Maybe just reaction to the pitch.....but it's bad.

Next pitch, maybe he didn't flare open, pause and swing with his arms. But on this pitch he did. Rolls over way too early.

That being said.....nice to get a base hit on a bad swing.

Glove Man,

What do you think of "this" swing by Ensberg?

Jason

I’m no p a u l n y m a n but my check list would look like this:

1. Grip: Where fingers join the hands (Great)
2. Wrists: Cupped and flexible (Great)
3. Stance: Balanced on balls of feet. Easy movement. Both eyes on the pitcher (Great)
4. Trunk move back: Inward shoulder and hip turn when pitcher separates hands. (Clip starts too late to tell)
5. Stride: Hands move back while foot moves forward. Lands gently on the ball of foot (Great).
6. Hip Turn: Powerful pull back of front cheek while hands are still back (AWESOME)
7. Un-kock wrists and hands underneath (Palm up/palm down). (Great)

Looks like a good swing at a good pitch to me.

He missed pulling a 400-foot home run by what ¼ to 3/8” on the bat barrel? Shoot him.

THop

quote:

Originally posted by THop:

Looks like a good swing at a good pitch to me.

This doesn't surprise anyone.

Look at pitch location up and in and fast.

He hid his hands at toe touch.

He hit this where it was pitched and got the ball on the ground.

His lower body shows why it is foolish to teach foot landing closed. That front foot had to take him to the ball and allow the hips to clear early.

He was making adjustments to this pitch. Maybe 2-2 count and he had to take a shot at this pitch or maybe he knew he could pull this ball on the ground hard.

I don't care for the swing personally and think it was top hand dominant all the way.

Compare him to pujols jason and you will see how far this guy lets his hands get away from the core


http://home.comcast.net/~karla.mcnurlin/2b1b.gif

weak hip coil compared to pujols too.

Not a picutre perfect swing, but it was a knock and possibly with an RBI attached. Even Pujos rolls over sometimes. It is not easy to stay perfect on every at-bat. And sometimes the perfect swings end up as outs. And sometimes the horrible swings end up as bases clearing doubles down the line. Work hard on being consistant as you can gentlemen, do your cage and tee work and then when the game comes around do your best to see the ball and get the barrel to it. Don't worry about having the perfect swing. See it and hit it. I would rather have a kid with an ugly swing that got the barrel on the ball consistantly then a kid with a perfect swing who couldn't make contact. Hitting and swinging are different. Keep that in mind. Hitting is survival. That dude was probably pounding Morgan inside and he was trying to figure out a way to get him out of there, and so he cheated and rolled over a bit, it was a knock, he battled and won. Not with a perfect swing, but by seeing the ball and getting the barrel to it.

Living in St. Louis I see Pujols take some terrible swings.....and get hits.

No question it happens.

Key is for those terrible swings to come as a result of adjustments to timing mistakes as compared to just coming for no reason at all.

And, you don't have the adjustment capability if you swing with your hands/arms. Your best swing better come from your center so last second "life rafts" can come from your arms.

Much of my interest here revolves around what my son's are being taught by a competent ( i think) instructor. On this swing, one thing I think he would comment on what he calls "reverse pivot".... The shoulders back and the weight moving to the back 60-40? rather than 50-50 at contact. This is not uncommon amoung MLB hitters...but would they consider this a flaw? A-Rod for example is almost amazing at remaining 50-50. My kids are taught it is important to stay 50-50. What do the various Guru's think of what my kids are being taught? Is it an important swing trait? Thanks

Flipp, I think it's a swing that helped the Astros get to the World Series last year.

283 36HR 101RBI, if production is anywhere near this next year, I don't care if he swings the bat with his feet.

I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!

What were his post season numbers?

Glove Man......Ichiro has great numbers also...that doesn't mean we should teach our kids to hit like him. The purpose of analyzing the swing is to establish the goal we should be striving for.... Of course the guy can hit...he's a MLB Allstar. That doesn't mean every swing he takes is worth emulating. I don't expect my kids to have perfect swings...but it comforts me to think we are at least striving toward the right goal.

So what, he had a bad post season. The Astros would not have gotten to the playoffs without the year he had. Your criticism is of players is unacceptable. Either grab a bat and head to a try out, or back off. It is not as easy as A+B+C+D= basehit. If it were, then guys like you would be in the big leagues. Morgan Ensberg isn't criticizing how you run your pool hall is he?

Relax...he is only looking at one swing...not his worth as player/man.... How can we talk hitting if we can't discuss what we like/do not like in a swing

I was made my comment in response to the post, "What were his postseason numbers?" by Linear. Not to anything anyone else said.

I am very relaxed by the way.

Brian Doyle...Great name!

quote:

Originally posted by bubandbran:
So what, he had a bad post season. The Astros would not have gotten to the playoffs without the year he had. Your criticism is of players is unacceptable. Either grab a bat and head to a try out, or back off. It is not as easy as A+B+C+D= basehit. If it were, then guys like you would be in the big leagues. Morgan Ensberg isn't criticizing how you run your pool hall is he?

Are your knickers bunched?

I've said repeatedely, this guy has a good swing. And, that this one isn't a good swing. But it's great he punched a single with it.


Maybe the other thread, where you faded away has something to do with those knickers.

No knickers bunched, I made my comment in response to you saying, "What were his post season numbers?" That was a dig at a very good player. Don't act like you didn't say something derogitory about him.

Pointing out his inconsistency. Been like that his entire career, although the up numbers are up.

He led his team all year. Great swing.

He had a different swing in the playoffs. Wasn't pressure. Wasn't good pitching (competely). It was the swing you see here.

I hope he figures it out and gets it consistent. It's definately in there somewhere.

His swing in the playoffs was different. He looked lost, but that happens. It just happend at a bad time for him.

I agree with Linear and BudandBran here. Not a good swing and I have seen Ensberg take some great swngs. But hitting technique and actually hitting in the trenches are 2 different things. Hitting will always be a reaction to the pitchers action, and it is one of survival. Those that can get the job done most often will get paid to do it. And only 750 or so have proven that they can do it enough to be there.

Love Morgan's swing. Great position to hit when foot is down. Length in the front arm, gets back elbow down. AND GETS OFF HIS BACK SIDE. LOVE IT.

Bottom line for me, good swing or poor swing, is the stats line at the seasons end--- forget the post season --many excellent players have poor post seasons--Ensberg's was not unique-- I can go back to Gil Hodges "ofer" in the WS when they were holding novena for him in Brooklyn churches.

Incidently not every at bat can be perfect given all the variables involved

quote:

Originally posted by LOW337:
Love Morgan's swing. Great position to hit when foot is down. Length in the front arm, gets back elbow down. AND GETS OFF HIS BACK SIDE. LOVE IT.

What exactly are you trying to say? How does it apply to a High Level Swing?

I agree with Linear's comments. I normally save every MLB swing clip I can find to show my sons. This one I did not save. This is the first one FlippJ has ever posted that I did not save.

Not with this swing.

I got a hit once off 90+ too.

I'm still working.

Could someone show a clip of the "perfect" swing vs a 95 mph heater on high/inside corner?

These ML pitchers don't just groove everything. If Ensberg is like most ML hitters he's looking for something down in the strike zone. That's where one might expect "his" perfect swing to be geared.

Opening day 2004 in Busch Stadium, I saw Pujols take a high/tight fastball, put an ugly swing on it and rip a double off the 3rd basemans glove. I knew/know the pitcher very very well! The game might be archived on MLB.com, but not sure. It was not Pujols best swing, of course! In this case, he gave up on his best swing and just hit the ball!!! Should of been scored an error!

bbscout,
I agree with you. This looks like a good swing to me. I think we are judging alot from one swing. What was the situation in the game and the count? I think he was just a little out in front which caused him to get on top of the ball a little, but, a quarter of an inch lower on the ball we would be saying what a nice long ball that was. He is in a very strong position at contact, and that is what I really like to look for.

This is just one swing......I think his stats prove he has a good swing (or, less likely, he compensates very well for a not so good one.) I am not trying to value Morgan Ensberg...nor do I expect every swing he takes to be great, unless it's in batting practice. I'm trying to fully understand (with varying degrees of success) the best way to teach my kids to hit. So, I really appreciate the guys who post here that are willing to give concrete opinions on the swing THEY SEE. Rather than ..he drove in 100 runs so this swing must be good. That makes no sense, and does not help me understand what is good and not so good about THIS swing. BTW just because I like the opinions does not mean I agree with them... but they do make me think... I also understand that some think that the micro-dissection of a swing is useless...I consider that opinion also... Thanks...

Thanks for sticking up for me....LOL and the translation bbscout.

GFK....I was just answering a question posed by bbscout....he asked what we thought of Morgan's swing......Most guys at that level do many of the same things he does.....how successful they are is another thing.....He (as do most good hitters as a HIGH level) gives himself a chance to center the ball.....sure situations change, which will in turn change his approach....but the guy but a good swing on the ball in the clip provided by bbscout......sure he was tad out in front but at least he gave himself a chance to center (hit ball hard) the ball.

As far as a high level swing goes, well you just saw one.

As far as my explaination for what I saw.....He does a lot of things right. Foot down early = means the only decision he has to make is NOT to swing (you try and decide to hit a ball 90 or better and do any different). Length in front arm = he gets his hands back ready to hit (he is not Moises or Paul Molitor).
Back elbow down = helps him stay inside of the ball (if your elbow gets too far away from your side you will come around balls) your new nick name will be 6-3......He gets off of his back side = he doesn't squish the bug, helps w/ power as well as giving him a better chance on offspeed stuff...he will get fooled he is human.

Hope this helps....How was that?

I've got my foot down right now.

Is that early enough?

I just went back and looked at the original clip I built those animated GIF's from and realized the information I provided about the at bat was incorrect. The pitch was actually 92mph. The hit came on a 1-0 count with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the third off Atlanta pitcher Tim Hudson.

Jason