April 30, 2012

Bautista Pulling Off the Ball

In the fourth inning, Yu Darvish strikes out Jose Bautista swinging, then two batters later gives up a home run to Edwin Encarnacion, the first allowed by Darvish this season. When Bautista struck out, he looked like he pulled off the ball. I backed it up and watched the pitch frame by frame. Jose keeps his eye on the ball until he starts to swing, but remains looking up and out as the bat comes through the strike zone. I then watched the Encarnacion home run, and you can see the stark difference. Edwin’s eye stays on the ball right through contact. His moves down to see the barrel of the bat, and Bautista’s never did. That’s probably a big reason for Jose’s slump.

The Rangers lead 2-1 in the top of the fifth. Kyle Drabek just struck out his eighth batter, surpassing his major league high for a game.

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