Bryce Harper...

[Y84it]

Thanks MarkGrace

that was informative!

[Surfah]

That was pretty interesting. Watching Bonds' swing after Harper's makes it seem like he doesn't even have a hitch.

[scottie]

Harper still impressing teammates

[FMCoug]

He gets away with it because he still gets his hands into a load position to create a downward trajectory through the zone. The classic hitch is where the batter drops his hands significantly downward and then doesn't get them back up putting the barrel below the hands and resulting in an uppercut through the zone. The likelihood of creating contact increases the longer the bat is in the zone, and the more you can push down or flat through the zone the better your odds are (obviously there are exceptions here -- guys like David Ortiz swing up through the zone, but it's a flatter up than a true uppercut). The other major one (though less common) is of course when the batter's first movement is to push the hands further behind the head thus creating a greater distance to travel to make contact.

I've been watching Harper's swing and in some ways he's using the circular motion a lot of hitters use as a timing technique and to push back their hands and get them loaded so they can drive down into the ball. Guys like Albert Belle did this, and so does Pujols to an extent, but they do it slowly before getting into their swing where Harper kind of does it in one motion. Also, when you watch him in real-time, I think it looks a little more exaggerated than it does in slo-mo because he gets such a violent torque through his leg kick and hip rotation. If you just watch his hands, it could be smoothed out, but it's not that bad.

[YOUTUBE]Dgwi-AODnn8 [/YOUTUBE]

Compare that to Bonds' hands and Harper's hitch is actually much less pronounced. Bonds had the classic drop hitch, and while he never brought them back up that high, he at least got them up to the point where he could again get that downward motion through the zone. Both of them always get their hands back into a hitting position and that's how they can keep up bat speed and are able to get away with it.

[YOUTUBE]4hOYGbUb2RI[/YOUTUBE]

Here's another one with Hank Aaron. First one isn't great because the ball is low, but on the next two you can see the hitch before he gets his hands back up into position and then gets down through the zone.

[YOUTUBE]h4j4TQuASIs[/YOUTUBE]

You see it with a bunch of players, especially those with a lot of pop. The thing they all have in common is that despite some hitch they get their hands back into a good hitting position.

Pretty sure if the comparison is Bobby Bond's and Hank Aaron his coaches are fine with the hitch.

[San Juan Sun]

Harper follows the dictum: high hands makes for good bat speed.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Big stage at Fenway? No worries. 2-3 so far, 2B and HR, 2 RBI and 2 runs.

[FMCoug]

Big stage at Fenway? No worries. 2-3 so far, 2B and HR, 2 RBI and 2 runs.

The kid seems to have ice water for blood.

[MarkGrace]

Gotta be fun to be a Nats fan on a night like tonight when you have Harper crushing it and Strasburg dealin'.

[UtahDan]

Gotta be fun to be a Nats fan on a night like tonight when you have Harper crushing it and Strasburg dealin'.

:Willie:

[DrumNFeather]

Gotta be fun to be a Nats fan on a night like tonight when you have Harper crushing it and Strasburg dealin'.

They're gonna face a real interesting decision come September. There's a lot of ball to play between now and then, but if they are in the hunt, will they still shut Strasburg down if he reaches his pitch count? Or, will they try to stretch it out by having him skip a few starts in July/August so he's available for a possible playoff series.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Since this kind of seems like an unofficial Nats' thread, y'all should read George Will's column on his son, the Nats' fan (well worth the read, I promise you).

[myboynoah]

What's up with Flores' bat. It looks unusually short.

[falafel]

Since this kind of seems like an unofficial Nats' thread, y'all should read George Will's column on his son, the Nats' fan (well worth the read, I promise you).

This one?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jon-will-40-years-and-going-with-down-syndrome/2012/05/02/gIQAdGiNxT_story.html

[Surfah]

I have a man crush on this dude. Final game of the series at Fenway and he had some tightness in his back that he mentioned to someone. It got to Davey Johnson and he held him out of the lineup and Harper was pissed. He went out and did warmups and ran sprints in left field by himself to work off the anger he said. He put on his eye black and sat on the steps of the dugout the entire inning. In the 8th he came into pinch hit and drew a walk. Then scored all the way from first for the go ahead and ultimately game winning run. It's amazing that the kid can be inserted into the game and be a difference maker. The Nats are playing unreal right now. Lots of guys picking each other up and the pitching continues to be stout. Clippard in the closing role is looking good. This team is legit.

[Non Sequitur]

I have a man crush on this dude. Final game of the series at Fenway and he had some tightness in his back that he mentioned to someone. It got to Davey Johnson and he held him out of the lineup and Harper was pissed. He went out and did warmups and ran sprints in left field by himself to work off the anger he said. He put on his eye black and sat on the steps of the dugout the entire inning. In the 8th he came into pinch hit and drew a walk. Then scored all the way from first for the go ahead and ultimately game winning run. It's amazing that the kid can be inserted into the game and be a difference maker. The Nats are playing unreal right now. Lots of guys picking each other up and the pitching continues to be stout. Clippard in the closing role is looking good. This team is legit.

I'm seriously thinking about MLB Extra Innings. Mostly for my Giants, but Bryce Harper might be the deciding factor.