Kyle Lea

Dad of 2. Husband. Lineman. Blues/Cardinals fan.

[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

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[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@Jandystl I have it muted and listening to the radio. I will not listen to John Smoltz call a baseball game

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@Jandystl Who says no Jandy

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@OttoRocket9 @Jandystl It was off Mikolas, doesn’t count 😂

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@Jandystl Jandy just puts pen to paper when it matters this is why we love you

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@LobosFFDen Me when I had 6 this year and 4 next year

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@henryerz15 God bless you for this

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@Jandystl Aramis Rameriz, Pedro Alvarez

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@MLBaseball_Live Cardinals fans have been spoiled with top notch radio play by play for, literally ever. Forever. Rooney and Horton are good. They aren’t great, but they’re good. We are just used to Shannon, and Buck

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@TSN_Sports Sick hat Brady, can’t wait to have you at home!

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@Jandystl I hated him but it was because I hated that we played him so much. He talked shit, he backed it up, it pissed me off but BP was a ball player.

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@4Magoat @MedievalGritty But you’re right, Sac doesn’t deserve a basketball team and I do believe NBA would do infinitely better than hockey in KC.

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@4Magoat @MedievalGritty Bro I couldn’t be more right. KC fans suck. Plus there is ZERO hockey scene. Trying to catch a Blues playoff game in KC at any bar was impossible. It is just not a hockey city. It’s barely a baseball city.

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@OleTimeHardball Jimmy Ballgame always played so shallow because he had that RANGE to go get it. I loved watching him play. My fav Cardinal ever. Played CF because of him.

[MLB @MLB]

Jordan Walker is seeing red 🔥

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@Jandystl

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@RiggsBarstool You are trying so hard to save face with this shit man 😂 so embarrassing

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@cturnbull1968 Lmao. Those jobs are union jobs that don’t just get posted to the street. You have to do an apprenticeship. You have to actually take some initiative. Call the hall. Apply for the apprenticeship. Put in the hours. Then, jobs like this are everywhere.

[Kyle Lea @leakyle7]

@BunkiePerkins @TronCarterNLU I’m torn on TC because hell yeah on the mango cart but also tuck your shit in man