SCOUTING INSIGHT ON HITTING

What the Professional Baseball Scouts Look For

1. An athletic set up (stance)

2. Balance

3. Rhythm - ability to get bat started

4. Hand/bat speed

5. Hand/overall strength - use of top hand

6. Direct route of bat head to ball with extension at contact - ability to drive ball

7. Hand/eye coordination

8. Aggressiveness

9. There are exceptions to the above. Be aware of the player who consistently drives the ball albeit with an unorthodox approach. Performance must be considered.

Hitting Flaws Considered Difficult to Correct

1. Upper cutter (collapses back side/shoulder)

2. Front side fly - bails out with the upper body and pulls away (fear?)

3. Lunger - front shoulder lunges forward of front knee and commits too soon: no ability to adjust

4. Long sweep swing/arm swing

5. Large vertical hard hitch

6. Spinning off - hitters who spin off ball, instead of to it.

7. Groove swing - lacks ability to adjust hands, bat head - lacks hand/eye coordination.

8. Sever bat wrap - slows bat down, creates a loop in swing.

Excerpt from NY Yankees Scout Manual 1/9/96

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