Adam Kilgore discusses Rick Ankiel‘s adjustments at the plate:

Rick Ankiel is making a small but significant change to his approach at the plate this spring. He has relaxed his shoulders and hands, an adjustment made to help stay back and drive the ball to all fields, to not be purely a pull hitter. In his first handful of at-bats, Ankiel has shown clear progress.

In the Nationals’ first game, he smashed a double off the center-field wall. Monday night against the Mets, Ankiel roped an opposite-field home run over the left-field fence off starter Dillon Gee.

“It’s always good to have results, especially the stuff you’re working on,” Ankiel said. “It just builds confidence for the stuff you’re doing. It drives you that much more to stay committed to the approach.”

I like articles like this from spring training as they discuss actual mechanics, not if a player looks like he’s in good or bad shape. Ankiel hasn’t generated any power since the 2008 season, so it’s time for a change or he’ll be out of baseball. Rick is not on the Nationals 40-man roster at the moment, so he really needs to put on a show in spring training.