Comments on: How Did Cano Turn It Around? http://www.theyankeeu.com/2009/11/how-did-cano-turn-it-around-9508 The Blog Formerly Known As The Yankee Universe Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:24:05 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Jd http://www.theyankeeu.com/2009/11/how-did-cano-turn-it-around-9508/comment-page-1#comment-8360 Jd Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:01:47 +0000 http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/?p=9508#comment-8360 Moshe, great analysis. Moshe, great analysis.

]]> By: The other Chris H http://www.theyankeeu.com/2009/11/how-did-cano-turn-it-around-9508/comment-page-1#comment-8359 The other Chris H Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:37:16 +0000 http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/?p=9508#comment-8359 Cano seems to be almost like Arod not so much in putting the weight of the team on his shoulders but more in the sense of feeling the moments that have the most pressure on them and identifying those moments while in them and it works to their disadvantage. He seems to always want to come through and makes himself get out of what he normally does, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he is pulling off trying to get the big RISP HR and knock the game wide open. I think Melky could do a lot better with some work on his swing this winter in a way that Cano did last year, he has very obvious moments of completely trying to jerk the ball up and out of the yard and it really ends up falling into slumps of him jerking up on the bat and he goes a week or two weeks in these slumps when he could just relax and try to go up the middle and fix it, Long could really do Cabrera well. Maybe he could even get his HR total up to 18 or so if he stopped going for HRs so often... Cano seems to be almost like Arod not so much in putting the weight of the team on his shoulders but more in the sense of feeling the moments that have the most pressure on them and identifying those moments while in them and it works to their disadvantage. He seems to always want to come through and makes himself get out of what he normally does, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he is pulling off trying to get the big RISP HR and knock the game wide open. I think Melky could do a lot better with some work on his swing this winter in a way that Cano did last year, he has very obvious moments of completely trying to jerk the ball up and out of the yard and it really ends up falling into slumps of him jerking up on the bat and he goes a week or two weeks in these slumps when he could just relax and try to go up the middle and fix it, Long could really do Cabrera well. Maybe he could even get his HR total up to 18 or so if he stopped going for HRs so often…

]]> By: Moshe Mandel http://www.theyankeeu.com/2009/11/how-did-cano-turn-it-around-9508/comment-page-1#comment-8358 Moshe Mandel Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:31:02 +0000 http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/?p=9508#comment-8358 Yeah, I thought that was pretty great. They put in a ton of work, and it must have been gratifying to see it pay off. This year they should work on hitting with RISP. Now that I think about it, maybe he gets pull happy with RISP, and you have what you got in 2008. I can't think of a way to find out. Yeah, I thought that was pretty great. They put in a ton of work, and it must have been gratifying to see it pay off. This year they should work on hitting with RISP. Now that I think about it, maybe he gets pull happy with RISP, and you have what you got in 2008. I can’t think of a way to find out.

]]> By: The other Chris H http://www.theyankeeu.com/2009/11/how-did-cano-turn-it-around-9508/comment-page-1#comment-8357 The other Chris H Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:24:08 +0000 http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/?p=9508#comment-8357 He went down to the Dominican and worked with Cano their during the winter which shows a lot of work ethic by Cano in wanting to perfect his craft... I actually heard that Melky was planning on joining them this year if Long finds time to go down to the Dominican. I like that we have a hitting coach with that much dedication to work with a player in the offseason in their home country! He went down to the Dominican and worked with Cano their during the winter which shows a lot of work ethic by Cano in wanting to perfect his craft… I actually heard that Melky was planning on joining them this year if Long finds time to go down to the Dominican.

I like that we have a hitting coach with that much dedication to work with a player in the offseason in their home country!

]]> By: Old Ranger http://www.theyankeeu.com/2009/11/how-did-cano-turn-it-around-9508/comment-page-1#comment-8356 Old Ranger Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:26:25 +0000 http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/?p=9508#comment-8356 Accurate points Moshe... Looked up some stuff and it showed the same thing my eyes told me, most of the year. Long worked him hard last year, hope he can do the same with a couple others. Accurate points Moshe…
Looked up some stuff and it showed the same thing my eyes told me, most of the year. Long worked him hard last year, hope he can do the same with a couple others.

]]> By: Greg F. http://www.theyankeeu.com/2009/11/how-did-cano-turn-it-around-9508/comment-page-1#comment-8355 Greg F. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:14:25 +0000 http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/?p=9508#comment-8355 Very interesting stuff. I'm definitely closer to being convinced now. Very interesting stuff. I’m definitely closer to being convinced now.

]]> By: Moshe Mandel http://www.theyankeeu.com/2009/11/how-did-cano-turn-it-around-9508/comment-page-1#comment-8354 Moshe Mandel Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:57:08 +0000 http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/?p=9508#comment-8354 Regarding 2009, I can't find the distilled data, but I did find Cano's spray charts at MLB.com. http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/stats/individual_player_hitting_chart.jsp?c_id=nyy&playerID=429664&statType=1 To me (maybe I see what I want), I see more doubles down the line in LF in 2009, and the general outfield hit data is skewed a bit more towards LF. I'm not saying I'm right, just that the 2008 batted ball, pitch F/x, and scouting data suggest that I'm in the ballpark about 2008, and I think I have some decent markers on what corrected in 2009. Regarding 2009, I can’t find the distilled data, but I did find Cano’s spray charts at MLB.com.

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/stats/individual_player_hitting_chart.jsp?c_id=nyy&playerID=429664&statType=1

To me (maybe I see what I want), I see more doubles down the line in LF in 2009, and the general outfield hit data is skewed a bit more towards LF. I’m not saying I’m right, just that the 2008 batted ball, pitch F/x, and scouting data suggest that I’m in the ballpark about 2008, and I think I have some decent markers on what corrected in 2009.

]]> By: Moshe Mandel http://www.theyankeeu.com/2009/11/how-did-cano-turn-it-around-9508/comment-page-1#comment-8353 Moshe Mandel Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:45:42 +0000 http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/?p=9508#comment-8353 Actually, I do have data on 2008 to that effect, it is in the initial article. This is the quote from Josh Kalk, who used spray charts and pitch f/x and basically confirmed what I wrote. "In 2008, Cano is not doing much with the balls on the outer half of the plate. He has very few hits to the opposite field, which seems to indicate that he is pressing and trying to pull this pitch instead of going the other way with it. Notice how few balls he has had to hit on the inner part of the plate this year. This makes sense because if he is trying to pull everything, pitchers should be working him away. As for the balls up in the zone, Cano is actually making more contact this year than last year but many of those have gone for the weak pop-ups we noted before. If he continues to pop this pitch up, the only remedy is for him to stop swinging at those pitches. " http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/anatomy-of-a-player-robinson-cano/ Now I need to find 2009 data, but I think the pitchFx data suggests I was right about 2008, and that the batted ball data provides hints on what changed in 2009. Actually, I do have data on 2008 to that effect, it is in the initial article. This is the quote from Josh Kalk, who used spray charts and pitch f/x and basically confirmed what I wrote.

“In 2008, Cano is not doing much with the balls on the outer half of the plate. He has very few hits to the opposite field, which seems to indicate that he is pressing and trying to pull this pitch instead of going the other way with it. Notice how few balls he has had to hit on the inner part of the plate this year. This makes sense because if he is trying to pull everything, pitchers should be working him away. As for the balls up in the zone, Cano is actually making more contact this year than last year but many of those have gone for the weak pop-ups we noted before. If he continues to pop this pitch up, the only remedy is for him to stop swinging at those pitches.
”
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/anatomy-of-a-player-robinson-cano/

Now I need to find 2009 data, but I think the pitchFx data suggests I was right about 2008, and that the batted ball data provides hints on what changed in 2009.

]]> By: Greg F. http://www.theyankeeu.com/2009/11/how-did-cano-turn-it-around-9508/comment-page-1#comment-8352 Greg F. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:35:26 +0000 http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/?p=9508#comment-8352 I dunno, Moshe. I just can't really get myself to believe that without seeing more data. If I could see a spray chart that shows he was going the other way more frequently, I'd believe it. Until then though, I can't. I think that if he was trying to pull everything he'd hit way more grounders to second and that would show up in his ground ball rate and go along with a decline in his line drive rate. There's no doubt that he hit for more power in 2009, but I'm just not sure that his weak 2008 season was any fault of his own. I don't know, though. I dunno, Moshe. I just can’t really get myself to believe that without seeing more data. If I could see a spray chart that shows he was going the other way more frequently, I’d believe it. Until then though, I can’t. I think that if he was trying to pull everything he’d hit way more grounders to second and that would show up in his ground ball rate and go along with a decline in his line drive rate.

There’s no doubt that he hit for more power in 2009, but I’m just not sure that his weak 2008 season was any fault of his own. I don’t know, though.

]]>