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 Aaron Hill of the Toronto Blue Jays on March 1, 2004 in Dunedin, Florida. (MLB Photo) |
SARASOTA, Fla. -- Aaron Hill has movement.
At least that's what hitting coach Mickey Brantley is attempting to instill into Hill's swing this spring.
When the Blue Jays' young second baseman comes to the plate, he has -- or at least had, up until this spring -- similar swing mechanics to a former Jay who was a pretty fair hitter in his time, Paul Molitor.
Hill would hold the bat upright and as still as a sniper grips his rifle. There would be no trigger mechanism, no moving of the hands slightly back before the swing explodes, as do 99.9% of all hitters. Instead, he would go from dead still into his swing. It was the one and only swing he has known since first picking up a bat.
There is nothing wrong with that swing but, unless you have Popeye forearms as Molitor did, it has its limitations because it restricts a hitter's power.
"We're working on that part," Brantley said yesterday. "We're working on getting him a setup, some rhythm, some timing. Now he is starting to move a little bit -- a little waggle, a slight backward motion. It's not exactly what we call a two-piece swing.
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"But he is working hard at it and he is hitting the ball hard. He is putting together a nice little rhythm. His hands are moved back a little bit and he has a little more relaxation. So, hopefully we'll get a little more power in the gaps."
Make no mistake, though, the Jays aren't looking for Hill to hit home runs. The power they'd like to see is him ringing doubles up the gaps and being able to turn on a ball once in a while and launch it.
"With Aaron, I like to keep him in the gaps. He is not a home run hitter," Brantley said. "He likes to pull off the ball at times. I think power will come, but not like a power hitter.
"He has a nice stroke. He can go the other way, go up the middle hard, can get in the gaps and that's where I'll try to keep him this year."
Hill, meanwhile, loves the new approach.
"It's not a new swing or anything. It's more a movement thing," he said. "It enables me to drive the ball to right, to get something behind my swing. It feels great."
Because of the off-season additions, Hill figures to be hitting either eighth or ninth in the order.
"You don't know what kind of hitter the kid is going to become," manager John Gibbons said. "But if he gets a little bit of movement, a little more trigger, it puts him in a stronger position and he might be able to drive the ball a bit more.
"At some point, I can see him being a very good No. 2 hitter. The way he fits this team now, he'll be hitting eighth or ninth."
So, just what would Gibbons like to see out of him RBI-wise?
"If he drives in 60, that would be fine," Gibbons said. "He's got the knack too for some clutch hits because he puts the ball in play and that's a big thing when you have guys in scoring position."