John Mozeliak used an interesting phrase to describe Jeff Albert, the Cardinals’ new hitting coach.
In the modern game — in which batters had more strikeouts than hits last year — that sounds like a nice and encouraging mantra for 2019.
“It’s also important to consider how the quantity and quality of batted balls contribute to overall production,” Albert said Wednesday.
The philosophy that wowed Mo, who wooed Albert, was all about maximizing the amount of hard contact. It’s not just about reducing strikeouts by making more contact in general, because that could backfire if the quality of your batted balls is often poor.