husband, father, animal lover, head baseball coach. @WPUAthletics HAAC CHAMPIONS!!
Joined April 2020
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Mike Laird retweeted
I took some heat from insinuating baseball players were the best athletes
Looks like I wasn’t that crazy after all
People hate it, but track doesn’t transfer to sport as well as a lot of people would like you to think
Mike Laird retweeted
Hitting the ball in the air to the pull side is the best hitting strategy the #nerds could come up with?
All that money spent on those Ivy League educations and that’s the best they’ve got?
A good buddy of mine who has been a @MLB scout for years told me that in one of their meetings one of the #nerds spoke up and said his research indicated that the hitters doing the most damage were hitting the ball in the air to the pull side and he suggested that they start teaching guys in the @MiLB to start focusing on trying to do that.
I shit you not!
My buddy couldn’t believe it!
Now anyone who has actually played the game knows that doing that is incredibly difficult and you open yourself up to pitchers who know how to pitch you away and off speed stuff.
The best hitters have the ability to use the whole field because they know you can’t just hit the ball in the air to the pull side and be successful!
#shegone
@notgaetti @BobFile
@billdubs @iamrags @artofhitting @hittingguru7 @slider_sinker @SliderDom @low_and_outside @TheRealJHair @DMEASrecruiting @VandyonTigers @KevinKennedyMLB @SalMarinello @RVGDag @AMBS_Kernan @MLBNetwork @WillClark22 @MLB
Mike Laird retweeted
TOP SPEED BASEBALL – SUMMER 2027
Recruiting top 2029 players!
Need 1 power hitter & 2 pitchers.
Players from CT, RI, MA, NJ & NH.
We have had some great results for players.
450+ College Commits
25 MLB Draft Picks
88 Pro Contracts
📩 [email protected]
Mike Laird retweeted
95% of the issues in high school sports come down to one thing:
Parents believe their kid should be playing over someone else’s kid. You can agree or disagree that is the truth.
Mike Laird retweeted
They play REAL BASEBALL not the COMPUTER VERSION! #shegone
Mike Laird retweeted
“They knew that in order to win you’ve got to put the ball in play, put the pressure on the defense and drive in runs.”
Albert Belle
Albert Belle was a bad man!
He was the most feared hitter on a team with Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Carlos Baerga and others.
My favorite part of this interview is seeing him smile when he’s asked about Launch Angle.
#shegone
@notgaetti @BobFile
@billdubs @iamrags @artofhitting @hittingguru7 @slider_sinker @SliderDom @low_and_outside @TheRealJHair @DMEASrecruiting @VandyonTigers @KevinKennedyMLB @SalMarinello @RVGDag @AMBS_Kernan @MLBNetwork @WillClark22 @MLB
Mike Laird retweeted
At some point, baseball has to get back to valuing ballplayers and not just numbers on a screen. Give me the Freddie Freemans, the Buster Poseys, Hunter Pences, Pablo Sandovals, Michael Youngs, Ian Kinslers of the world. Guys who just flat out know how to play the game. Everyone wants to talk launch angle and exit velo, but what happened to valuing a quality at bat?” The 9-pitch battle that might end in an out, but forces a pitcher to show everything he’s got.
The guy who hits behind the runner, takes what’s given, or just refuses to give a pitcher an easy inning. Those at-bats might not look sexy in the box score, but they show up in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. Some of these dudes could absolutely leave the yard too. That’s the point. They weren’t one-dimensional. Somewhere along the way, we confused measurable tools with knowing how to win baseball games.
I’m not against analytics or hitting the ball hard, but there is an art to winning that you can’t fully measure. We need more guys who know how to play baseball, not just hitters, not just athletes, ballplayers. And I promise you, those dudes never go out of style
Mike Laird retweeted
Unpopular opinion: Too many players have no clue what level they can play at.
Parents don’t know. Most Travel coaches don’t know.
Kids are spending money on showcases at schools where they have ZERO chance of ever playing.
Someone needs to start being honest with these kids.
Mike Laird retweeted
LISTEN UP @MLB
Joe Maddon knows the game better than most people and he’s seeing it’s demise because the people in charge don’t know what they are doing!
Don’t check the DATA!
Just use your eyes!
#shegone
@notgaetti @BobFile
@billdubs @iamrags @artofhitting @hittingguru7 @slider_sinker @SliderDom @low_and_outside @TheRealJHair @MoVaughn_42 @DMEASrecruiting @VandyonTigers @mikepiazza31 @KevinKennedyMLB @SalMarinello @RVGDag @AMBS_Kernan @TheKineticArm @WillClark22 @MLB
"The last time I was with the Angels, I was told they weren't even teaching bunting and baserunning in the minor leagues. It was considered superb. Just hit homers."
- @MaddHalos
Mike Laird retweeted
One of baseball’s best base hit bunters Garrett Hampson.
1) Simple early turn.
2) Great bat angle out in front with barrel pointed to 1B coach.
3) Elbows point DOWN.
4) Sees the ball down off the bat before running.
Mike Laird retweeted
2 Strike Hitting
Mental Resilience
Widened stance
Choke up on the bat
Expand the zone
Shortened Swing
Mike Laird retweeted
You don’t get points for Exit Velocity folks!
You do get points when you put the ball in play and force the defense to make plays.
The premise that @MLB infielders are so good that putting the ball in play on the ground will have a negative outcome is false.
It’s all part of the #nerds narrative to encourage hitters to try and hit every ball in the air.
Putting the ball in play with 2 strikes will produce better results than swinging for the fences and striking out!
Check the DATA!
#shegone
@notgaetti @BobFile
@billdubs @iamrags @artofhitting @hittingguru7 @slider_sinker @SliderDom @low_and_outside @TheRealJHair @MoVaughn_42 @DMEASrecruiting @VandyonTigers @mikepiazza31 @KevinKennedyMLB @SalMarinello @RVGDag @AMBS_Kernan @TheKineticArm @WillClark22 @MLB
Mike Laird retweeted
The Rays believe in Strike one. They hit the FB. They run the bases well. They play good defense. Bottom half of order know who they are and execute. Move runners if they need to. More importantly they don't strike out!! Sometimes people complicate this game. They keep it simple
Mike Laird retweeted
HERE WE GO AGAIN WITH THE VELOCITY BULLSHIT.
And this time it’s right on MLB.com.
Travis Sawchik has a new article today telling us again how much nastier October pitching is, throwing Stuff+, wOBA, whiff rates and velocity numbers at everybody like we’ve suddenly entered some brand-new version of baseball.
LOOK AT THE VELOCITY.
LOOK HOW HARD EVERYBODY THROWS NOW.
LOOK AT ALL THESE NUMBERS.
Every year it’s another metric, another algorithm and another big number telling us the game has somehow been reinvented.
And once again, everybody blows right past PERCEIVED VELOCITY.
A guy throwing 96 can play at 98 or 99 because of extension, release point and where the hitter picks up the baseball.
Now remember something: we had starters in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s throwing 94, 95, 96, 97 and reaching 100.
So stop acting like today’s velocity is some alien shit baseball has never seen before.
Are there MORE guys throwing hard today?
YES.
I’ll give you that.
But here’s the other side nobody wants to put on the front page:
THE COMMAND AND CONTROL OF TODAY’S PITCHERS IS HORRIBLE.
You want to know why so many starting pitchers are sitting at 80 pitches in the fourth or fifth inning?
THIS SHIT.
Max effort on damn near every pitch.
Trying to light up the radar gun.
Missing spots.
Falling behind.
Running deep counts.
Fouling pitches off because nothing is being commanded.
And next thing you know, the starter is at 75, 80, 90 pitches before he can even get through five innings.
Watch enough games and you see it constantly.
These guys can barely get through five because too many of them are THROWING instead of PITCHING.
Velocity.
Spin.
Stuff+.
Max effort.
Great.
How about getting strike one?
How about putting the fastball where you want it?
How about changing speeds?
How about getting a hitter out in three or four pitches instead of throwing eight?
That’s pitching.
Give me 94–96 with command, control, location and the ability to change speeds over 99 with no idea where the hell it’s going.
Velocity is part of pitching.
IT IS NOT PITCHING.
And MLB needs to stop selling every new radar-gun number like we’ve never seen this shit before.
We have.
#MLB #Baseball #Pitching #Velocity #MLBPlayoffs #SheGone03 #TheHugeShow
Mike Laird retweeted
Turns out that @MLB pitcher’s aren’t throwing harder than the pitcher’s from previous eras.
It’s just being measured differently like we have all been saying.
More are definitely trying to throw hard but the human body has limitations folks.
Batting averages are down and strikeouts are up because hitters are swinging up and trying to hit the ball in the air and their bats are cutting through the zone instead of staying through the zone like they should.
It’s not rocket science folks!
Just use your eyes and you’ll see it too!
Wait til the #nerds see this!
#shegone
@notgaetti @BobFile
@billdubs @iamrags @artofhitting @hittingguru7 @slider_sinker @SliderDom @low_and_outside @TheRealJHair @MoVaughn_42 @DMEASrecruiting @VandyonTigers @mikepiazza31 @KevinKennedyMLB @SalMarinello @RVGDag @AMBS_Kernan @TheKineticArm @WillClark22 @MLB
