Drew

Believer In Christ | Jordans Dad | Papercut Survivor | Coffeehollic | Organ Donor | City SC, Blues, Battlehawks and Cardinals run thru my blood

[Redbirdriot @RedbirdRiot]

This singlehandedly made me decide to watch the team this year btw

[Just Baseball @JustBB_Media]

Players in Cardinals history with 17+ HR, 50+ RBI and 10+ SB in their first 65 games of the season:

1922 Rogers Hornsby
1997 Ray Lankford
2026 Jordan Walker ‼️

[Magnolia @MagnoliaXRio]

Kyle Busch tells his son Brexton all about how he saved his car after going completely sideways & went on to WIN the 2012 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[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.)

[Gateway Grinders @gatewaygrinders]

Tarps off shot on 35 mm film

📸 lukechristian02/IG

[MLB @MLB]

The @Cardinals have won 13 of their last 18 games!

[STL Sports Central @STLSprtsCntrl]

How many outfielders in baseball have been more valuable than Jordan Walker (2.2 fWAR) this season?

Just one: Aaron Judge (2.5)

[Oliver Marmol @OliMarmol]

Last night’s atmosphere was electric. Let’s run it back this weekend.

I’ll buy tickets for fans who want to sit in the right field Loge and bring the energy.

https://t.co/wxax7VZhzp

[St. Louis Cardinals @Cardinals]

A true FLASH sale!

Oli Marmol has bought out the remaining tickets in the Tarps Off section for both this afternoon's and tomorrow's games and made them available FREE to fans.

Claim your FREE ticket, while supplies last: https://t.co/ngmZ99TG1Z

[Scott Singer @IamScottSinger1]

Amount of games a Cardinal reliever has given up an earned run in the amount of games they’ve pitched:

O’Brien: 2 of 18 (11%)
Graceffo: 3 of 16 (18%)
Romero: 4 of 18 (22%)
Soriano: 4 of 17 (23%)
Briuhl: 6 of 19 (31%)
Stanek: 6 of 18 (33%)
Svanson: 11 of 18 (61%)

#stlcards

[St Louis CITY SC @stlCITYsc]

"I'm overwhelmed by all the love and support"

Head to our YouTube to hear more from Edu in the full presser 📺 https://t.co/iWAexgk9Py

[St. Louis Cardinals @Cardinals]

They're going to walk him to get to Herrera. Obviously he's thinking...I don't know what he's thinking!

[kendrick Lyrics @WordFromKdot]

2 years ago today, we heard Not Like Us for the first time… unforgettable 🔥

[Kentucky Derby @KentuckyDerby]

Relive @TravisStone's call of the historic 152nd Kentucky Derby.

@Cisco

[MLB @MLB]

Jordan Walker MASHES home run No. 10 at 110 MPH 🔥

[STL Sports Central @STLSprtsCntrl]

I guess JJ Wetherholt didn't do enough for a mention

He just has more HRs than Shohei Ohtani and an OAA in the 97th percentile...

Oh, and he's 1st among NL Rookies in fWAR #STLCards

[Drew @Mr_Basic_Drew_]

OMG Carlos Prates is a problem Lfg

[MLB @MLB]

Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson homer, Jordan Walker goes 4-for-4 and the @Cardinals are winners of 5 in a row!

[Winn's Shiesty @winns_shiesty]

I mean come on man

[Cardinals Talk @theredbird_way]

4-4, 2 RBI. Back over .300.

He’s back.