Read that LSU hired Minnesota Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson for 400,000 or more a year. Maybe we can hired an additional hitting coach from the pros.
I don't know if that would be such a great idea. Modern hitting coaches are emphasizing launch angles to maximize home runs. That it also leads to lots of strike outs is a major side effect. Strike outs are inning killers almost as much as double plays. At least putting the ball into play can lead to a positive result. When I was younger the Charlie Lau approach was how I was taught. It emphasized line drives so lots of clean singles and doubles down the lines or in the gaps. Home runs occured as a matter of course and was not the main objective.
Lurk— When my growing up buddy Ray Knight first got to Cincinnati his hitting coach was Ted Kluszewski—“Big Klu”
Getting another MLB pitching coach to come to UF is a long shot. I might well be the only Twins/GatorsBB fan here, so... scuttlebutt in the Twins fandom is that Wes Johnson left mostly because his wife decided she couldn't stand to live in the upper Midwest shortly after he was hired (FWIW, not so much weather as culture, especially gender roles -- Upper-Midwesterners don't care for the whole Southern Belle schtick [I'll leave it there, since this isn't "Too Hot..."]) and then, after a couple years, the couple decided together that they weren't willing to spend over half the year apart.
Strikeout rates are down this year in the MLB and so are Home Runs. YET, so are runs per game. Why? I have said this here before and I will continue to say so, the current day analytics PROVE that launch angle and exit velo generate more runs per game. These guys aren’t stupid. Now, can said data be replicated with non-professional hitters? A fair question. In addition, there is an even more interesting analytical question regarding college vs pro playoff type. Do these analytical models hold over 5/7 game series and should they be applied to the college game where the playoffs are even more random than MLB? I am not picking a side BUT I will side with MLB hitting coaches regarding the analytics for a 162 game season.
I don’t have stats to back it up, but I would bet that hard hit balls score more runs than launch angles in college. In the mlb, there is elite gloves everywhere. In college, not so much. Make them field the ball and get you out. They will make lots of mistakes in college.
Dave Kingman would be a legend in today’s game. His last year he hit 35 HRs, had 94 RBI and batted .210. At the time, batting average was important to MLB GMs and he retired.
Some guys in your lineup need to be guys that can clear the bases. But you also need other guys that get on base before they come up to bat. Earl Weaver said it best: Pitching, defense and three run homers win games. Power guys need to learn how to hit with launch angles and all that. The other guys need to learn how to get on base. Every team has more of the later than the former. So I say that a hitting coach that teaches launch angles to everyone on the team would be a huge mistake. Jud Fabian was a great home run hitter, but would a lineup of nine Jud Fabians be a good lineup? I think not. On a good day it would be three solo shots and a lot of strike outs that doesn't win many ball games.
Batting average is the most overrated stat. On base percentage is much more important. I am not going to look it up but I bet Dave Kingman got walked a lot that year.
I did look it up. Hardly any walks and a boat load of strike outs. Surprisingly high amount of RBIs so guys must have been on base pretty often when he hit a dinger. And as far as @WESGATORS is concerned, no triples.
