Joseph Forlenza Jr.

Sports fanatic-Knicks, Giants, Yankees, Rangers

[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.

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[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@GaryHPhillips He is terrible. His numbers in the playoffs or lack thereof is all that matters for a role player like him.

[Spittin' Chiclets @spittinchiclets]

NOTHING BETTER THAN A GOALIE TILT!

MARKSTROM AND SHESTERKIN GET AFTER IT! 🍿

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@NYK_Mentality85 Stop listing stats and watch the game. Bridges is getting blown by on every play, consistently giving up the lane. For every 1 play where he stays in front of his man I can show you four where he is trailing

[Jonny Lazarus @JLazzy23]

The Artemi Panarin #NYR tribute video.

He got some love from Lafreniere, Fox and Trocheck after.

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@GoonerGrish @ChrisCoop_ We will circle back to this thread at the end of the year when Grisham reverts back to the norm and the defense continues to decline

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@GoonerGrish @ChrisCoop_ He did not. You can try to convince yourself that but besides the defense which had a sharp decline last year, he does nothing better than Dominguez. But based on your profile, youre a fanboy so no convincing

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@GoonerGrish @ChrisCoop_ Since you know so much, why should Grisham be starter? What does he provide over Dominguez? Please tell me

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@NYK_Mentality85 @fasho2k Its not really a small sample size. Stop feeding people statistics and start watching the games. Defensively he is horrendous, soft and always trailing off the dribble. Offensively he rarely operates within the flow of the offense and most buckets are broken plays. Get him off

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@PhilKocher You're a miserable loser.

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@NYK_Mentality85 He is quite literally horrendous

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@Alvi19478870 @ThievesTalk Scrap literally said he didnt think they were making a change and that it came from above the players on his stream.

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@nickiacoban Rangers

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@IAmEricVincent I dont like it buts its called everywhere else for all other superstars so I would expect the same call here. NBA has grown soft. Have to live with it

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@FungoMedia The comments are to "soften" the outrage when he fails to sign Bellinger. "We dont want him anyway". Cashman is a loser

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

@GaryHPhillips He is a .160 career hitter in the postseason. Thank God we can win some regular season rewards with him in the lineup.

[Alex Wilson @AlexWilsonESM]

THIS IS A FUMBLE BRO!!!! THIS IS GIANTS FOOTBALL!!!!

[Joseph Forlenza Jr. @J_ForlenzaJr]

Refs saved the eagles on that one

[100T Nadeshot @Nadeshot]

League of Legends and the LCS has been a cornerstone of 100 Thieves esports since our inception, and I will cherish the successes that we have had over the years. Can’t thank all the players and staff that put their all into representing our banner enough and a special shoutout to @Dhoklalol, @QuidlolKR, @lolRiver, @SupportEyla, @VictorHuang, @GeneralSniper, @Goldenglue and @SpookzOCE - you guys made this last year all worth it. What a fucking way to go out!

Lastly, shoutout Ssumday, Aphromoo, Meteos, CodySun, Ryu, Pr0lly, FBI, Huhi, Abbedagge, Closer, Reapered, Blake Robbins, Jackson Dahl, John Robinson, Jake Cohen, Jacob Toft-Andersen, Gabriel Ruiz, Logan Dodson, Marc Urbino, Jason Ton, Julia Wu, Ryan Martineu, Nathan Chang and Joseph Jang. I’m probably forgetting some folks but this program would have never existed without them. I’ll love this team forever.