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
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
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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.
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
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
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.
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
"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.