Coach Henrigillis

Teacher and Head Baseball Coach at Sturgeon Bay, former head coach Peshtigo High School Baseball. Opinions/tweets are mine & don't represent the school district

[Jermaine Curtis @JermaineCurtis]

When I was with the St. Louis Cardinals, we had a team meeting about hitting with two strikes.

Albert Pujols was leading it.

At the time, he was hitting something ridiculous with two strikes.

I want to say it was around .265.

Naturally, everyone wanted to know how.

So somebody asked:

"What's your two-strike approach?"

Albert's answer surprised me.

He said:

"I think fastball inside and hit it back through the middle."

That was it.

No complicated mechanics.

No secret formula.

Just:

Fastball inside.

Back through the middle.

I remember sitting there thinking:

"Why would you think fastball inside with two strikes?"

So somebody asked him.

And Albert said something I'll never forget.

He said:

"If I can hit a fastball inside back through the middle..."

"I can hit the fastball away."

"I can stay on the changeup."

"I can stay on the slider."

"I can stay on the curveball."

Then he paused.

And said:

"The ball gets deeper."

That's when it clicked for me.

He wasn't trying to pull the inside fastball.

He was using one thought to cover everything.

The more I thought about it...

The more it made sense.

So I started trying it.

And it changed the way I thought about hitting with two strikes.

Instead of worrying about every pitch...

I focused on one.

Fastball inside.

Back through the middle.

See it DEEP.

If you're struggling with two strikes, here's what I'd do tonight:

Round 1: Short Box

(Set the distance somewhere between front toss and batting practice.)

Have a coach throw only fastballs inside.

Your only thought:

"Fastball inside."

Drive the ball back through the middle.

10 swings.

Round 2: Mix Speeds

Now the coach mixes:

- Fastballs
- Changeups
- Breaking balls
- Sliders

But your thought never changes.

You're still looking:

"Fastball inside."

10 swings.

Round 3: Two-Strike BP

Every pitch starts 0-2.

Compete.

Battle.

Use the same approach.

"Fastball inside."

Back through the middle.

10 swings.

That's it.

30 focused swings.

One thought.

One approach.

One goal.

Drive the baseball back through the middle.

One thing I've learned:

Most hitters get worse with two strikes because they add thoughts.

Albert got better because he removed them.

With two strikes, simplicity is a weapon.

Thank you for reading,
Jermaine Curtis

P.S. - If you enjoyed this and thought it was helpful, please share it.

(When you share it, it tells me you want more content like this.)

[Greg Berge @GregBerge]

Great teams don’t make excuses.
They make adjustments.

No…

“Yeah, but the refs…”
“Yeah, but they’re more talented…”
“Yeah, but we were tired…”

Accountability starts when the excuses stop.

[Tony Roundtree @Tonywithyy]

Myles Garrett walking in the Rams facility in LA after being in Cleveland for 10 years

[Brad Logan @BradLoganTOC]

WATCH:

“You can’t win if you’re not a good team. You can have some superstar players and future major leaguers.”

“Our guys would rather bus than fly because they love being on the bus together.”

-Ole Miss head @CoachMikeBianco

🎥: @NCAABaseball | #RoadToOmaha

[FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOX]

How did your team do in the month of May? 🤔

[Barstool Sports @barstoolsports]

WVU walks it off & has the entire stadium singing Country Roads

Chills

[Podcast Doesn't Exist @PodcastDoesnt]

The Tampa Bay Rays' newest analytical strategy is breaking Baseball again

[Todd Rosiak @Todd_Rosiak]

Count Pat Murphy among those who are pumped about UWM beating Auburn in the NCAA tournament today:

[Baseball Performances @MLBPerformances]

Jacob Misiorowski is unbelievable 🤯

7.0 IP | 2 H | 1 R | 1 BB | 12 K’s

Every whiff and called strike from Mis this afternoon:

[Gerry DeFilippo @Challenger_ST]

LET THIS POST BE A CATALYST TO YOUR GAME CHANGING TOP SPEED GAINS

12 of the BEST non sprinting top speed boosters

Save these, Go get faster 🔥💨

1. Dynamic/stomp step-up
2. SL drop jump
3. Band rapid Bulgarian
4. Drop jump to vert
5. Banded SL Jump
6. Partial ROM rack pull w/ band
7. Intensive pogo jump
8. Dynamic SL landmine RDL
9. Drop jump to box jump 10. Partial ROM, banded Bulgarian
11. Band accelerated Bulgarian jump
12. Drop jump to overhead throw

[Kyle Wagner @GowagsKyle]

One of my favorite stories to share.

The All Blacks!

[Talkin' Baseball @TalkinBaseball_]

Jacob Misiorowski was absolutely dealing once again as he became the first pitcher to ever throw 50 pitches at 100+ MPH in a start

[MLB @MLB]

After another double-digit strikeout performance, Jacob Misiorowski is the first pitcher to reach 100 Ks this season!

(MLB x @abbvie)

[Karley Marotta @Karley_Marotta]

Funny exchange with @Brewers Pat Murphy and @AdamMcCalvy as Murph debates if he tells Sal Frelick that he loves him enough.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

Life advice nobody taught you in school:

[Jermaine Curtis @JermaineCurtis]

The 6 conversations I believe every baseball family should have.

After playing professional baseball and now coaching players and parents…

these are the conversations I’ve seen impact performance the most.

[Gerry DeFilippo @Challenger_ST]

You’re slow & it’s ruining your athletic performance

That ends today

These 7 sprint starts are what I use to get big time speed gains with my athletes

You can use them & see the same results

Save this list, use them!

1. Lateral half kneeling
2. Sled resisted
3. Band release walkout
4. Drop back
5. Med ball
6. Med ball drop back
7. 3 point stance

[Ryan Ripken @ryanripkenshow]

"I was in L.A. watching [Eddie Murray] take batting practice... the whole 1st round was the ugliest swings I've seen in my life... I walked up to him and said Eddie what were you trying to do in that 1st round? He goes, that was infield back man on 3rd less than 2 outs I got 2 strikes and I'm just trying to put it in play"

Will Clark tells the story of watching Eddie Murray prepare in batting practice and how it changed his thought process.

[Xan Barksdale @xanbarksdale]

Henry Davis with another backpick at 3rd.

No need to wait for a steal attempt to use that arm strength.

[Green Light with Chris Long @greenlight]

Beware of this Packers defense 😤