When Jackie Bradley, Jr. steps to the plate for the Boston Red Sox this season he’ll hit left-handed, as he has done for his entire major league career. So why is he spending time during spring training working on his swing from the right side?
Bradley is coming off of a breakout season in which he set career-highs nearly across the board, including 26 home runs and an .835 OPS. His batting average was also the highest of his career, yet finished at a middling .267 after a second-half fade.
Hitting for average remains one of the few weak spots left in his game, so one would think that if he plans to continue hitting solely from the left side this season then he should be concentrating all his efforts in the cage and during batting practice on improving from that side.