Bae Ji-hwan of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) has led his team to a winning streak after changing his batting form and running style. By eliminating the leg kick (a technique used by left-handed batters to raise and lower their right foot), Bae became more accurate with a simplified batting form and stopped his “runaway” tendency to steal second base whenever he got on base.
Bae started in the No. 8 spot in the batting order against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California (USA) on 1 January, going 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and three runs scored.
It was Bae’s 11th multi-hit game (two or more hits in a game) of the season.메이저사이트
His batting average, which was in the low 20s until mid-May, has also soared to .275 (149-for-41), and he’s been on fire of late, going 11-for-31 (.355) in his last 10 games. At the same time, he stopped trying to steal bases. He realised that even if he didn’t have to steal second base, he could still get home from first base with a medium-range hit.
MLB.com commented on Bae’s recent uptick, saying, “After hitting with a high leg kick, Bae has switched to a more streamlined batting approach with a shorter stride.”
Until early last month, Bae used to perform extreme leg kicks, lifting and lowering his right knee until it touched his stomach. This form of striking can increase the distance of the shot because of the large weight shift. However, accuracy is compromised. The Pittsburgh coaching staff told Bae that he needed to modify his leg kick.
“Coach (Andy Haines) asked me if I was using the leg kick for power, and if so, he advised me to hit with my legs instead of the leg kick,” Bae told MLB.com. “It feels different, but I’m learning every day,” he said. Bae also had two hits with the new batting form.
Down 0-1 in the third inning, Bae led off with a walk and scored on the next batter’s single, and in his second at-bat in the fourth, he doubled and came home on the next batter’s single. In the sixth, he led off with a single up the middle and scored on the next batter’s blast. Pittsburgh pounded out 14 hits up and down the order to win 9-4 and extend its winning streak to two games.