The Blue Board

You see my point. The average fan at home has no idea how quickly out the hand the ball is on you in the mid 90's range. One thing just to stand there, a big difference deciding ball, strike swing or not and put it all together. Factor a change up that looks like a fastball and do all the same but its 15+ slower and keep hands/body back to adjust and get the sweet spot. Why its a game of failure and still a success

we agree on something

Please dont list Trout or Harper near Griffey's name...thanks

IMO Trout has a higher ceiling than Harper...

Trout is a 5 tool player, who does not has many kinks in his swing. He does have some issues on pulling outside pitches too much. He is the type of guy who likes to get his arms extended, but can manage his contact with inside pitches. The only question I have for him is how well he can adjust to pitchers doing there homework from last season to this season. That is a question for anyone coming off a good Rookie season. He has a smooth swing and it is a simple 1 to 3 type swing that Griffey perfected. He is very short through the ball and can create "easy" power because of it. He does not flail at many pitches, and keeps his weight in the center of his body very well. I think his numbers will be a lot like last season as more pitchers will be planning ahead with more knowledge of him at the plate. How he adjust to their adjustments will be the question.

Harper is streaky, but also a great competitor. He is the type guy you love having on your team, yet would hate playing against him. He has sparks of being a physical freak with his speed. His presence alone changes a lot of things. He is an "Energy" guy and plays an "old-school" way. Dont look for any of that to change his sophomore year, as he will have even a bigger presence for the Nats. He is the type guy who can will a baseball game by himself one day, but disappear the next. His swing is jerky, and very complicated. It is a long swing with many holes in it, but if he gets the right pitch things can change fast. Their are more questions regarding his swing than Trout, but he does things at the plate that many wont even chance doing, bunting with 2 strikes wouldn't surprise me with this type guy, then launching a blast 450 feet the next. He will never have a high average because of his swing, but this is one guy id hate facing when he is in the zone.

Trout is a better pure prospect that Harper, but you can't put a number on Harper day-in and day-out. Harper has that "it" factor on somedays that does not show up on the stat sheet, and Trout has a pure, very fluid type swing which he has complete hand-eye control. Harper could bust through and do things as a baseball player that many would never do...Josh Hamiltons 4 HRs in one day come to mind, but his swing with have to take many steps forward to do the things that Josh has done on a normal basis. Overall Trout is the player I would take for a season, but Harper is a guy who I would take for 1 game.

Effortless. Steps into the pitch and just lets the bat do the work. Harper has a tendency to bail out, particularly against left handers and has shown the tendency to try and make every swing a homerun. It's terrible.

Agree with Trout... there is not a young position player I would want more than him in the game today.

Him, Miguel Cabrera, and Joe Mauer all have pretty sweet swings.

My bad. Wasn't saying there like Griffey. He was so smooth in the outfield and such a natural swing that generated power with ease. Pretty sure you got the idea of my point

Yep...short and quick. Josh Hamiltons swing has to be mentioned though...but he is a freak that makes things at the plate look easy

Most players that have a sweet swing, like Cano, Cabrera, and Mauer, are very productive.

Cano has a sweet swing and tons of power for a 2B

Yeah, his knees are all messed up. It is interesting... he was actually a very poor fielder before he hit the majors, but he kept working at it and became at worst competent. He plays hard and unfortunately, his body hasn't held up.

If I could name them they would be productive. I agree those guys have great swings, and the less movement the better the production can be, but a guy like Manny wasnt pretty but he killed it, Jeter...leftys are what we think of as sweet swings...and they are, but my point was it isn't a necessity to be a good hitter

I was going to say that Manny's swing was pretty good. He was always balanced and he never torqued his body until he was through his swing. He did have a hitch, but it was contolled and his hands were in a good position when he decided let it go. From the time when his left foot hits the ground and forward, it's a solid swing.