Blueprint for Hitting with Runners in Scoring Posi

Hi everybody, welcome into another edition, the Lab Epstein Hitting Podcast episode 128. Thanks for being with us today. Much thanks as always, subscribing to the show, Apple, Google, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. And on YouTube, the Lab Epstein Hitting Podcast, YouTube page, let me bring in professionally value-weight or successful business owner, former coach, friend and co-host, the guy, I can't do this without. And the

person I'll be talking about today are Topic at hand, episode 128, hitting with runners and scoring position, J Gapstein. Not for a while there, son. It was an early morning and then for this morning. By the way, do you know what's trending on Twitter today? I hate you. You really want to know? Do you want me to? No, I do want to know. Okay, we're recording

this on a Saturday morning. And for those who missed last week's episode, go back and listen towards the end, but trending on Twitter this morning. Hashtag. No, hashtag, add ass to everything. Add ass. Yes, add ass to everything. Hashtag, add ass to everything. That's about it. The follow us on Twitter at Jim Tara and at Epstein Hitting and both Twitter and Instagram. In fact, so hitting

with runners and scoring position, talking about that today, that's our main topic. What's the broad message though? Let's just kind of break this thing open, crack this puppy open. Hitting with runners and scoring position, the main message that we're going to try to get across today. Relaxation. Mm-hmm. Brilliant. It's it's breathing. It's a it's a more stressful environment. It's why some hitters do really well in

that situation and some don't even though they are good hitters. See this at the college level. A lot when players get into scoring position and and the team hasn't been scoring runs as of late. All of a sudden it's magnified. Oh my gosh, I have to get a hit here. Even if that players two for two on the day, they're feeling way too much stress to

get that runner in. So a lot of it doesn't have to do with prep. I mean, some of it is definitely, you know, how we practice, but it's it's maybe how we practice under stress. And some players are really good in those situations and some players aren't and have to work on it, but players. It's a little bit different now. The last couple years, but you

got paid with our beyes. You got paid with production. If you drove runs in, you were one of those guys, you got paid, whether you hit 220 or 320. And there were a lot of guys that had a lot of, you know, I always use the story with, you know, Tony Gwyn and Juan Gonzales. And Juan Gonzales was making, I think twice as much as as

Gwyn was. I don't know what you're just was. Maybe late 90s early. Yeah, it had to be in the 90s. And Gwyn was all upset that, you know, he was making money and it was because he was driving in 140 runs a year. And that's big. That's a that's a lot of runs versus somebody that's driving in 70. So RBI's, I you want to celebrate. That's

what that's what wins ball games. How we get them in. Maybe we get them in. Maybe it's a run around third and we push bond, you know, something like that. That could be huge. Maybe it's a sack fly. Maybe it's, you know, we had an air and then the runner went to second on a pass ball. And then the next person moved him over. And then

the next person hit a weak fly ball. We didn't even get to hit that inning. But we scored a run. And that's big for momentum. And that's big for team team concept. And we're not always going to have a three run home run. So we have to be able to manufacture stuff when needed, you know, late games. Yeah. So we're going to discuss everything as it

pertains to hitting with runners and scoring position today. Game planning and the approach, what to do when you're on deck. So we'll discuss all of that. Did you see the, I think it was a meme or I don't know, was statistic online, Albert Poole's ran around the bases five hours in his life, the amount of home runs that he hit. Did you see that might have

been the most ridiculous number I've ever seen in my life. I know. Breaking down everything now. Right. But no, you're right. Five hours he spent trotting around the bases. Yeah. And his career, that's just incredible. You know, it only takes 25. What does it take to get around the base of 30 seconds? A home run depends on how slow you go or how fast you go.

Who is the guy? There was one player who went like extremely fast around the bases like in the 90s. He looks sprint. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, I used to try to like break his record. Yeah. I think it was the reds, but I don't know who it was. I remember Mike Lieberthal for the Phillies. He every time you would hit a home

runner hit any ball. He would sprint out of the box. Even if even if it was a no doubt home run going 350 feet. He would sprint out of the box. Yeah. Kind of always annoyed me a little bit about him. Yeah. Whatever happened to Mike Lieberthal. Albert Poole's by the way, we're doing a mechanical breakdown series on him. A gold edition later on this year.

So stay tight. Stay tuned for that. Stick with us. We've done a Tony Gwynwann. You brought him up. So go back in the archives. Listen to that and watch on YouTube. The lab Epstein hitting podcast YouTube page. Jerry Weinstein speaking of which speaking in previous episodes, I tweeted this earlier in the week. And we do have a listener question today. That was sent to me via

my Instagram. So we will get to that. I want to pull up Jerry's tweet here, though. It's very relevant to what we pretty much talked about every week. Did I say Revlon? You did. I just thought you like why don't you correct me relevant. Excuse me. It's freezing. It's 48 degrees. It's 48 degrees in Tampa, Florida. I'm cold. I'm not used to these conditions. So Jerry

tweeted this a couple of days ago. Last week. Thursday. Friday. I'm not sure. You said this is what Jerry Weinstein again. If you missed the Jerry Weinstein was on our podcast as a guest co-host last year. I don't remember what you're talking about. It was a lot of fun talking with him. So go back in the archives and listen to that episode. But he said simple.

I want to get your thoughts on this. Simple teaching progression. Start slow. Perfect. The movement. Add speed. And add a complexity. True. Yeah. That's it. Pretty much it. Now I don't see. You can't skip steps. Training in that. You can't skip steps. If you got a bad grip. You're not going to extend properly without rolling your wrist. If you got a bad back elbow. You're not

going to be able to stay on plane. So you have to start with that. And I've actually been. Formulating a plan moving forward here about coaching and maybe a new coaching platform that I'll be working on this year and putting together. But it is it's about progression. It's about starting players at a young age and not having to maybe go to a. Goorou or hitting coach

when your kids you know eight nine 10 11 12 years old where you guys can work on this with your own son or daughter at home. And get it built in because it saves the instructor so much time moving forward. When you know now all of a sudden we can start working on spin and velocity and stress and all the parts of the swing that make

us good hitters rather than just mechanics. So. And it just works like my online academy. You know people like Jake you know my kids only eight will you do I'm like yeah absolutely we will work together. You know me and the dad or me and the mom we will work together to build this foundation. So a year or two later we're not worried about the front

leg or where the strides going or where the weights going in the load. All that stuff is locked in and now we can start doing more advanced stuff like you know backspinning balls the other way or making sure we're elevating to the pole side or you know adjusting our rhythm to breaking pitches or to different speed pitchers and that's what that's what it's all about. But

you can't just go to that. It doesn't work that way. You can't just say okay we're gonna work on. You know hitting pole side balls in the air but all of a sudden we have a big barrel drop. Well then we're gonna be one dimensional and only be on one point you know we'll only be on plane for about three or four inches. So yeah start

the right way start practice master then add stress then add more complex moves master that. Then keep moving up the chain. Yeah you know it's amazing that we've talked about this before in the show. And I think Cassie and I've talked about this on cross functionality. It's about building foundation starting slow and then just continuing to ramp it up. That's almost like the whole when it

comes to hitting as it pertains to hitting that's almost like the whole point of hitting off a T or a whole point of front toss or a whole point of side toss it's starting out slow and I understand a lot of people say well you know an I'm not going to do that. I saw a video with Nolan Arnato this week on Twitter as well talking

about how he likes to go fast and swing fast and do everything fast so his body gets used to that. But if you don't have a foundation especially at a young age right. Yeah. You're really gonna be in a lot of trouble. Yeah I mean just from an experience standpoint. If I'm working with a player that's 16 or 17 for the first time in there though

like hey want to come in do a lesson. I'm a whatever adversity player in high school. Okay. Like I know that player I can I can start two thirds of the way down my process. I may have to adjust to stride and adjust rhythm but I'm not going to have to worry about his grip. I'm not going to have to worry about him stepping out. I'm

not have to worry about bat drag. I'm not going to worry about casting because if the kid still did that he wouldn't be playing baseball anymore. So Nolan Arnato doesn't have to hit off a T because he's in a lead player and he's moved his way up and he's already done that stuff. So you take each their own. Sometimes I'll get a 10 or 11 year

old player and I'm like your mechanics are really great. Let's start to ramp it up a little bit. We'll start at front toss instead of T or we'll start with easy machine instead of T or a punching bag is really the ground zero is let's hit a stationary object that's big. We can get our body into position without stress. So it all has to do with

the player and where they are. But yeah. Nolan Arnato is not going to have to sit and do a lot of T work because. He's 30 years old and he's already done that. You have to have that foundation. I can't imagine what it's like for you when you see somebody a new student, a new player comes to you. Personal instruction comes to the academy, the lab

BCS. They're in college station, Texas and you have to rebuild their swing entirely fundamentally mechanically and build that foundation. I mean that's got to be for you just. It's a little bit tougher now. I'm older. When I was 20 late 20s, I was like okay I had more energy. Now it's it does. But I have the personality I can deal with it. I'm still mentally a

10 year old kid. So it's pretty easy to relate to them. But it works if the kid wants it to work. It works if they put in the time away from you. I can't spend enough time with a player that's not going to be able to do it. I'm not going to have to have a job that needs to rebuild their swing without that family going

bankrupt. Okay. So that like that doesn't work. You know if you're if you you have to work on your own, but you have to have a process to work on your own. You have to have somebody. I'm big brother, you know looking through the app, making sure they're doing their homework correctly. You have to have that in order to make changes. Otherwise you're just doing the

same thing over and over again. And then as an instructor I use the usually you know I'll cut ties and say okay maybe we should try this in a couple more years. I don't think you know he or she is ready for it because we're not putting in the time in the sidewalk. And it doesn't do us any good to do. You know 45 minute lesson

and hour lesson where the first two thirds of that lesson were recapping everything that we did. You know two months ago. We got to hit the ground run him when that lesson starts and that begins with players doing their sidewalk. Yeah. So I mean you know there's that myth out there that these instructors put on social media, hey I'll fix your swing. I'll fix your swing.

Nobody's going to fix your swing. You're the one who's going to fix your swing. You're the one who's going to get better as a player. You're the one who has to do the homework and do the sidewalk. The coach can only guide you. Right. Yeah. And if you're an instructor and that's how you how you think then you're doing it for the wrong reasons. You're doing

it for yourself because you want the satisfaction of changing someone's swing where as that's not why we coach you know. Yeah. We coach to help people and the gratitude we received from that. Wow. I got two hits. I had a player I've been working with since last summer and we've worked really hard and he's an undersized high school case young. He's like a young and he's

an undersized freshman. And he's made such amazing strides and he worked so hard at home. That's why we do it because he made his high school team and he really shouldn't have because he's like the size of a seventh grader. But he's scrappy and we figured out like this is where you have to hit the ball based on how hard you hit it. This is how

this has to be our approach with pitches. You know, it doesn't do you any good to turn and launch balls at you know 30 degrees. They're going to get caught. It's going to be right in an outfielder. So let's stay right in here and the kid has absolutely done it and he's going to be and he's going to grow right he's going to get bigger. He's

going to get stronger. But a lot of times those kids get passed out because. Yeah. There's I mean, I have seventh graders that I work with now that are more mature than than some of the high school guys. There's big and strong and those guys are going to get first shot right that they don't have to ever worry about that. But the kid that has to

work and work and work until he grows it you know maybe age 16 instead of age 14. If we can keep them in the game they're going to be great when they get to that age. So that's why we do it. We do it for the phone calls and the texts and the emails that say hey thanks for this it really you know really changed my

high school life or whatever it was not that everyone's going to be a big leader because they're not. I'm smiling because there are some people out there that that do this just so they can put on their social media. They're going to be a new job that they got and say how thankful they are. That's the only reason that they some of these people coach. Yeah.

Unfortunately. No, it's it's because that's our society now. I know. I want to see myself somewhere. Hashtag add asked to everything. And I did click on it to see what it's all about. It's nothing. It's just it's just a whole of nothing. It's just a trend. Somebody started. Follow us on social media by the way at Jim Tara at Epstein hitting this week. We did talk.

Cassie Riley Boehm and I on cross functionality about implicit and explicit coaching tactics. So subscribe to that podcast as well hosted by myself. Cassie joins me every Wednesday. Apple Google Spotify on YouTube. So I'll strengthen the Academy YouTube page. If you don't know Cassie is a simple national champion at the University of Alabama and she's my age. So I talked to Epu's older and a mentor

and Cassie who's a friend. So. I get the best of both worlds. This will be the last podcast that Jim and Jay. All right. You said mentor. Okay. I'll give you that one. What's wrong with ment. What's wrong with that? Older or wiser. I didn't say that much. I didn't say how much older. I just said older. Right. I could say like, Hey, this girl that

I'm dating right now. She's older. What would you say? How old is she? I don't know. She's just older. It could be anywhere from 34 to like 42. Yeah. Older minimum, minimum five years. If you say older. No. She's two years older. I wouldn't say she's older. Well, that's you're now you're, but now you're placing everybody in a generational type thing. A generational time loop. That's

what you're doing. You know, it's not a meme about it was really funny. Gosh darn it. I don't know if I can remember. It had something to do with mountain lion slash cougars. It was hilarious. And it was clean. I wish I remember that. I'll just leave it at that. We're not a clean show anymore. Now you've ruined it. It brings me it brings me back

to when I don't know if people used to watch everybody loves Raymond, but it brings me back to when one of the best lines in that show ever when Frank said, man, if I dated raised dad, if I could, I'd say, I'm not sure if I could be a man. I dated somebody Peter Boyle, Reston piece, by the way. Yeah. He went to the same college

I did. Yes. Yes. My little fact. But he said, man, if I had to date somebody older, she'd be like a mummy. All right. We got to listen to her question here. Sent to us. Not via Jimbo podcast 21, although you can email us your questions and comments and whatnot, but AD number five. It was reached out to me before on Instagram. He's asked some good

questions in the past. And AD number five. Right. So he's at hit squad zero, zero, five. I'm not sure. AD number five, though, on Instagram. He tweeted this to me. And I tweeted Instagram to me. It's DM me, whatever. He said, hi, Jim. I hope you're doing well. I was listening to the podcast this week. And Jake was talking about measuring launch quickness on the blast

sensor. Is he referring to time of contact. If not, how is launch quickness different than time to contact? Thank you, AD for that question. That's a really good question. Yeah. I mean, it's somewhat the same. So launch quickness has to do with really not casting. You know, if we cast and then our barrel moves away from our body, we're going to be slower to the ball.

So it's pretty much measured as time to contact launch quickness is kind of a term that there are some internet hitting guys hitting grooves that that want to get that bat going really quick and really early, which is never a bad thing. It's just you have to make sure that that barrel doesn't dump and go below the swing plane. So yes, you want to get going

quick. Typically, the best way to do that is to utilize your body correctly. So you're going to have your time to contact is the main key because it's telling you, how quickly can you get there efficiently after the ball is after your front foot lands. Okay. So the lower that number is, that means we have more time to see the ball. So the quickness or the

rate in which, you know, you get the item. Not sure how you would measure launch quickness versus time to contact to me. There's somewhat interchangeable. If your time to contact is bad, you probably didn't launch your swing very quick. And that usually means that, you know, our upper body started before our lower body. So it's crucially important that the big muscles pull the small muscles, the

first part of the swing, meaning our front foot lands, our hip starts to turn our torso is tight like our abs are tight in that position. So it yanks the torso through. And as the torso and pulls the shoulders, the shoulders, pull the hand. So and I'm not talking about a long distance. I'm talking a couple inches at the most, but we want our hands to

move with that shoulder. And then our hands can start to separate from our body a little bit. So yeah, I, the launch quickness is is is a term in that was created by a few people online. I'm not sure that launch quickness is used at the major league level. I have never talked to a front office or a scout, meaning an advanced scout or an MLB

scout that talked about launch quickness. How quick they get the ball. They're swing off. So, um, well, there is something that people talk about a lot and say a lot. And sometimes it's misused. And we talked about that last week in our bat speed and back quickness episode. Those evaluators say bat speed. And a lot of times what they really mean is bad quickness. Yeah. Again,

it's. It is what it is to the player. You know, I mean, you know, a lot of times. So what I found with players that try to. And again, it works for some people doesn't work for other people. They try to snap right or use their scrap or their hands quickly. They're back elbow to try to. You know, hit the noodle thing. We put emphasis sometimes

on the wrong thing and we'll start to do a hand move or wrist move or a back arm of back elbow move. And we'll do that before our foot hits the ground. And if that's the case, it's totally detrimental to the swing. Now, if you do that move and you, you know, it's not a bad move. Like if you snap your, you know, your right hand

or your top hand and your right shoulder. If you do it at the right time, it's a fantastic move. Okay. So it's like anything else. You, you know, you're going to get a little bit of a kick. You have to have a train die and you have to see when it's happening. Is it happening during the load before the front foot lands? Like is it happening

a frame before the front foot lands? That's a killer. We're not going to be able to adjust the swing. Can we do it after that front foot lands and be really quick with that move and efficient and make sure we don't dump the barrel under the pitch point too much. Then it's a great move. So it's always in the hands of, you know, the person that's

that's teaching and monitoring. And that's why video analysis is such a game changer is we can see it might look good. I was doing lessons yesterday. And I'm like, that's a really good looking swing. And it was left hand to player his left hand, his left elbow and his left shoulder. We're starting to come down and through before his front toe even touch the ground, let

alone his front heel. And I'm like, okay, this is he's leaving probably four miles an hour of exit velocity on the table, maybe two miles an hour of at speed on the table, because he's not doing that. So again, the moves were good, but the moves were at the wrong time. And that's what we have to be careful of. I don't know if I am. I'm

not going to answer the question at all, but there was good information in that response. Would you like me to ask it one more time? No, no, the listeners already fell asleep. Um, I'm sorry. I was, as people see it on the. Of course, it didn't fall asleep. Jim, you're supposed to say no. They didn't fall asleep. That was gold right there. Yeah. Yeah. You're cool.

You get very honoree when you get have to get up really, really, really, really early, like 430 in the morning. Like I'm, I can do it. Cause I do do it at times to go work out on the days. But you know, this dog for you, man, you got to come on. I'm good with five 430 though. You got to get the dog in control. You

can't have the dog be shitting at 430 in the morning. Now, first time, well, not the first time. I was laughing. I'm laughing, but chuckling. I was wondering that people on the YouTube side can probably see that. Cause I was thinking of the pool noodle. And I was thinking of the time where. My sister, when we're in the pool together, when we were kids, she would

put water in. Phillip the wall, the pool noodle with water with one side of the whole and then spit it out the other side of the whole and she would squirt me with it, right. So it was, it was funny when she did it. But when I did it, she would scream like bloody murder and I would get in trouble. Yeah, no, I'd like to. Jim.

It's just bringing me back to the pool. It's bringing me back to my, a little memory from my childhood and what my sister, like we're at the beach. She used to splash me first. I would splash her back and she would scream bloody murder in the wall. I'm like, what? And I would get yelled at. So thanks for bringing up the pool noodle. Appreciate it. Jim,

you should probably see somebody about this. I don't think so. I think that would be good for you to talk to a professional. It's just funny. And don't get me wrong. People, the pool noodle has its purposes. I'm a big fan of the pool noodle slid. I'm over a small piece of PVC pipe to make sure that we don't get along with our swing. So I

use that in different spots. Sometimes when the follow through if a player collapses their arm to follow through, I'll use it there. Sometimes I'll use it behind home plate so that a player has to stay tight with their turn initially to make sure they're efficient. So the pool noodle is not a bad thing, even though Jim has. I hate that piece of shit. Night terrors about

them. It's just, it really doesn't serve a purpose in the pool. It really doesn't. You know, if you want to float on something, get it like a pull chair or something. I like the pool chair. So thanks for that question, AD. And where's the ad from? I don't know. Is it say, come on, people, say where you're from. This is, this is exciting. Let me hold

on. Just because there's a new, I have a new online player from California that plays college ball. This first name starts with a name, but his last name is not start with a D and I know this is a podcast. So I will, I like to, you know, know if those are the same people. So AD and his biography or whatever under his name. So he's

a baseball addict. It's cool. Okay. That's what AD stands for. How do you figure? Addict. It would be it would be B.A. wouldn't be. I mean, he has a profile picture of the Yankees though. The Yankees. So maybe he's the Yankee fan. Maybe he's. I would say that most baseball addicts are from the Northeast. Yeah. I would say per capita. Those, but they're real fans. There's

no real fans on the West Coast. I'm calling. I don't know what you West Coast people. They're like, Oh, Dodgers are on tonight. I'll show up in the fourth inning and watch the game and then leave in the seventh inning because traffic's going to be bad. New York, man, they know everybody stats. I have a lot of family back east, like my dad's side. And so

they they fire me up. They send me stuff all the time. Like every day, there's something about the Yankees or the mats or Rob Manfred. Did they listen to the show? The podcast year. What's that? Did they listen to this great production we put on every week? Of course they do. Okay. It's funny. My mom was talking to one of her nephews, my cousins recently over

the Christmas holiday. And they're in college. They asked her, they said, what podcasts do you listen to? And they exchanged podcasts? Lab and cross functionality were not in that group. I asked my mom about that. And she said, well, you know, and then she just changed the subject. So you got to kind of be in the game to enjoy us. I mean, we're sparkling personalities for

sure. But if you don't play baseball or softball or have a kid that plays baseball or softball or coaches baseball and softball, then you're probably not going to put this one on your list. You know, I got to tell you though, speaking of listening, listenership, I can't your right though. You're right. And to an extent, I can't tell you how many, how many people or, you

know, women have said, oh, I saw your thing on Instagram or saw a clip of it. And I listen to it. And you guys sound good. But I don't know you're talking about. I would say most of the the female audience likely doesn't listen. They look at the, you know, so the younger girls are in there for Jim. So we're having a great show today. It's

very cold from Tampa. Hopefully it's not this cold on from the Monday night game. Bucks in the cowboy. You work at that game. Could be Brady's fine. I'm not it could be Brady. Good news. Our demographic now is 25 to 38. That's our top our top demographic. So our listenership is getting younger, which is great because it used to be used to the, it spread out.

I'm not going to get into these specifics, because it's boring over an actual podcast. Yeah. But it used to be in the beginning. Our biggest group listening was 45 plus. Now our biggest group. It is spiked to 25 to 38. Nice. Yeah. So we've got some young players and then parents of younger kids. That's this. There you go. And maybe some some women who don't know

what we're talking about, but listen anyway. Right. All right. Let's get into today's topic, hitting with runners and scoring position. Episode 128. Subscribe. Apple Google Spotify. We're on YouTube. Belive Epstein hitting podcast YouTube page. And by the way, Jimbo podcast 21 at Gmail.com. It's probably the best way to reach us if you want to get a question on our show. Um, game planning. This is something

I thought about this morning preparing for the show. I was wondering with you being a former coach and coached it many different levels. How did you go about game planning for runners and when you're putting together your offensive game plan. Game planning for runners hitting with runners and scoring position, getting your hitters prepared for that. It's kind of like when offensive coordinators in football go about

planning their goal to goal, goal to go. Situation, right. First and goal. Second goal inside the red zone. It's kind of like that with hitting hitting with runners and scoring position. How did you go about game planning that as a coach? Well, it starts with your lineup and knowing who's hitting the ball well, who's seeing the ball well, who feels good. Who's in who's in a

good place mentally, you know, maybe finals are are happening. And there's more stress on some players and less stress on some players. Obviously, you don't have that in the minor leagues, you know, but who's who's who's feeling it and who's not who's getting on base who's on base. And then knowing who you're facing, you know, what kind of pitches is it, are we in colleges at

a Friday night starter? Are we in pro ball? Is it their number one, two, three or four starter? How have they been throwing? What are you doing? How do I, how do my players match up against them? Do I feel like, okay, my three, four, five, six hitters? One of those guys is going to hit hit a bomb today, or they're going to hit some doubles.

They're seeing the ball well. This pitcher doesn't have overpowering stuff. He throws more breaking balls. The guys I have in the middle of my lineup. Maybe they have a more of an upslope to their swing. So they're on plain better with with breaking balls than they are with some some kind of high spin rate fastball. Okay. So, you know, I think that's what I'm saying. So,

I mean, it goes back to all of those things and how do we piece that puzzle together? But that's where it starts. And then as the game progresses, we have to figure out the flow of that game. What inning are we in? Are we getting guys on base? Is this pitcher have us really good stuff? Do we have to strike now because they're going to go

to their bullpen soon? And I want to get some runs in before that guy's hot in the bullpen and the guy on the mound is struggling right now. Just so many variables that you're going to be able to do. You have to think about and think ahead. And that's why having a coach, having a bench coach, having help around you as a manager is so crucially

important because of all those scenarios. And it starts in the meeting. You know, it starts at the 11 a.m. meeting for a seven o'clock game. You know, how are we going to position ourselves to win this game? You know, is this going to be a game? We're going to slug it out. Is this going to be a game that's going to be tight? You know, we

have an idea based on the starting pitching. Not everybody's going to have that. But if it's Verland or against the Grom, we might have kind of a different approach of what we're going to do versus, you know, two number five starters. You know, we're a guy coming off a rehab assignment that hasn't thrown a lot of innings yet. And I only throw two or three out

there. So, communications very important. And then, hey, you know, I always love, you know, we always talked about Reggie because the history of my dad has with Reggie and the fact they were teammates. You know, had a little scuffle back in the day. But Reggie might have won that fight, right? My dad, whenever he was a mean dude, I still isn't mean. Now he's not mean

anymore. We had lunch the other days. Yeah. Finally, once he turns 79, all of a sudden he showed out, just never that long. But, you know, Reggie would get in the box. And what did he say? He says, I'm in scoring position. There's runners in scoring position when I step into stepping to the box, even when there's nobody on base. And that's the mindset you have

to have. We talk about runners in scoring position, but you know what? Run around first base. I can drive that runner in with a double. Okay. I'm trying to hit the ball hard. So, okay. So that brings me to my next question about approach. What, what proper broad range type approach should a hit or take when they're hitting with runners in scoring position? Okay. So it

depends on is it a runner on third? Is it a runner on third? Is there nobody out and the infield is in? Okay. So now my approach changes. Okay. I got to get the ball in the air. Okay. I got to get a ball in the air, the infields in runner on third. The middle was back. You know, third base is in first base is in.

All I'm trying to do is hit a ball at the middle, hit a ground ball at the middle. The shortstopper second base man or it gets through. I'm going to get that run in. Okay. The other scenario would be okay. Runners on first and third. Yeah. With one out. And I got to get that runner in. Okay. So the easy way to get that runner is

a pushbunt first. Okay. That's going to probably move a runner to second base and get a run in and we sacrifice it out. So runner on, you know, if we're ever if it's degrom versus Verlander first and third. Nobody out. I may pushbunt something. That moves a runner up the second base. That gets a run in. I got one out. Okay. If it's early in the

game, obviously first and third, degrom and Verlander are not throwing. I'm playing for a beginning. Okay. So now I want that hitter to not hit into a double play. So that is my goal as a hitter. Do not hit into a double play first and third with zero outs. Okay. So I'm trying to get under a ball. I'm trying to hit something deep into the outfield.

If it finds a gap, great. I scored two runs. If it's a sack fly. Awesome. I get a runner in from third. But the worst thing I can do is hit a ground ball. Now how do we prepare those players? So day one, when I went to Mizzou, that was the big thing that I wanted to work on. Okay. We were trying to flatten out swings

because everybody was dumping. But it was situational stuff. And I wanted my players to be as smart as a coach that's been coaching for 25 years. Okay. What would you do in this situation? I don't want to have to tell you our head coach doesn't want to have to tell you. You need to know you need to be your own coach out there and understand the

game and understand the game. So that was a big thing for me is teaching and getting players to understand so that we're not micromanaging them on the field. Now, obviously tight ball games. We're not going to leave that to a 19 year old kid, unless it sets in bed at least 25. And he's your shortstop. You know, then he probably has the experience to do it.

But for the most part, it really grinds my gears. He's 25 fucking years old playing it. That's why I brought it up Jim because we were talking about it off air. I get his story. It's great. But now he's 25. All right. Fucking Brenn, we didn't 2.0. The bottom. In college baseball would be my guess. The couple guys is about 24. I mean, the dudes would

have been drafted already. But there's probably grad guys out there that are awesome. 25 at 25 though. Yeah. Probably not 25. I'm not sure how that works. Jesus without a mission trip. You know, I get it. If you went on a mission, but I think he started. I still don't get it. Even. College football at 19, right? He went to a junior college. Okay. So back.

I don't care. You know, I don't care for your 20. I don't care if you were doing a mission trip with St. Mary's School of the Deaf and the Blind. It doesn't matter. Your 25. You shouldn't be playing college football. Go ahead. Jesus. Sorry, Jim. I mean, bring it. I'm just saying it's been there. They're making a big. It's great. It's great. I just thought it

was a slight little move to throw him in there. So anyway, knowing knowing this situation, that's the big thing. And you know, like I said, if there's a runner up, there's a runner on first. This is probably my favorite one. There's a runner on first. And there's two outs. Drive that runner in. Okay. Look for something early in the count to absolutely destroy a ball. Beryl

a ball into the gap. Hit a double. I'm not saying hit a ball over the fence. You don't have to try to yak about the park, but hit a double with that runner up. And likewise, nobody on. Okay. Two outs. Hit a double. Hit something hard. Have that approach. Get in there. And then you can just go in and score a position with two outs. Okay.

It's much easier to hit a double with two outs than it is to hit a single and then a double with two outs. Okay. Take the double. Then take the scrap a single, you know, through the hole or something like that with two outs to scratch that runner. So, you know, knowing, knowing the time of the game, you know, what inning are we in? Late inning

early in the, do we need one run? Do we want to play for a big inning? Do we want four or five runs? I mean, that's more the ball game now. Depending on, you know, what level you're at is, hey, runners on first. And second and nobody out where, you know, 10 years ago, that's like 98% Bunt. You know, now it's like, hey, maybe that next

guy's going to hit a jack. Maybe that next guy's going to hit a double. Maybe that next guy's going to roll over and hit into a double play. We don't know, but we're playing for that big inning. And knowing your personnel plays a big part of that. I remember and I just, you know, caught up coach George Horton was my coach at Fullerton was just inducted

into the ABC. He was a C.A. Hall of Fame last week at the convention. And he, although he tells me when he coached me, he was young and dumb at that time. But he told me one time because I made a lot of contact. You know, I had good eye hand coordination. I didn't strike out a ton. Maybe back then considering power hitter time. But really,

I didn't strike out that much. But it didn't mean I would get a hit with two strikes either. It being I put a ball and play. And he was like, I'm going to play. I was like, if there's a, you know, a runner on first, like drive a man. Don't just put it in play with two strikes. When you have two strikes, I still want you

driving the ball. I don't want you protecting because I would protect. I would hit a ground ball. And it would be two outs instead of one. But maybe one out of five or six times I'd hit a double there and actually score that run with two with two strikes and a runner on first. So you have to know your players. You have to know their strengths

and weaknesses. You have to know are they clutch or they not clutch. And, you know, plan for that accordingly when you're, when you're out there running a ball game. I'm glad you brought up the two strikes thing because we talked about this before on previous episodes. When hitting with runners and scoring positions, say runners, second and third bases loaded runner third base, three balls, two strikes

and you take a borderline pitch that could go either way. That's okay to do any other time though you're protecting. But if it's three balls, two strikes as a hitter and you take that borderline pitch and it's strike three, okay. And that's also part of doing your homework knowing the umpire in his zone, watching the game, seeing the trend, seeing what's going on throughout the game

as it pertains to the umpire. But hitting with runners and scoring position, you have two strikes. The only time it's acceptable to take a borderline pitch. I think we may have debated this before is when you have two strikes and there's a runner, a third runner, a second runners and scoring position in general. No, I would, well, I would know the situation if it was a

bases loaded, I would say that would be okay. If it was runners at second and third in the infield was back, I would be okay with them swinging in a ball in the corner and putting in play. When I wouldn't want that as if there was a force out somewhere. You know, it has to be a situational type. Again, yeah. And you're in an understand situation.

But yes, if it's runners that bases loaded or runners, you know, first and second and the guy throws a slider low and away and it's borderline, you may want to take that pitch because you're not going to hit it hard. Right. You're not going to hit it hard. Now, if my approach is I'm going to look for ball, you know, five, six, six and a half.

I'm looking on the outer corner of the plate. That's what I'm protecting. And somebody throws a borderline pitch at ball six and a half seven. If I'm cheating that way, I'm going to hit it. Right. But if I'm sitting middle away and they throw me a fastball in the inside corner, I have no chance but to get jammed and probably pop up. Or hit a tap

or back to the pitcher. So. And these are things you have to understand in the on deck circle. Absolutely. And pitch to pitch. You know, you step out. You take a deep breath. You're figuring out, you know, what am I doing here? Right. We're clearing our brain. Okay. What was that pitch? You just buzz me. One of the count was whatever. Oh, and one. You threw

Right. We changed from pitch to pitch. I have a plan. Then when obviously I didn't have two strikes. The counts one and one. Most people one and one aren't going to sit on a breaking ball. But that's what you're going to get in that situation. So you have to constantly be adjusting. Each of that. Right. And then sometimes it cost. I heard Breggman. The other day

giving a hitting talk. And he was in a suit. It was great. I don't know if you saw that on Twitter or Instagram. And he was like, I'm looking for one pitch in one location. Yeah. I'm not telling you where that one pitch and one location. But I am tunneling one pitch and one location. And I'm not changing. I'm not changing until I get it. Okay.

So if he throws me up in any of you throws me a breaking ball. He's not changing. He knows what pitch he's looking for. Now the chances of him getting that pitch change during me a bat based on what the pitch is doing. But he is sitting on that one pitch until he has two strikes. Okay. You know what that's called guessing. How many people say

guessing is bad. Every single one of them. You can't guess you just got to react and you're bullshit. That might be the first time I've cursed on the podcast. I'm sorry, young children. But it's true. You always have a plan. The Breggman is a clutch hitter. And I think he says something like I'm looking for a pitch up and away or something like that. You know,

and that's what I'm tunneling that during anyway during that conversation you have. But we are. We are. What do we hit the best? Maybe I'm looking for a slider because I seem to hit the slider better off this guy than his fastball. His fastball. I just can't square up for whatever reason. We're looking for that pitch. We're trying not to miss it until we have two

strikes. And then we got to start to protect a little bit more. So have a plan. If you want to call it guessing. Great. I love guessing. You want to call it anticipation. Great. I love anticipation. You want to call it having a plan. They're all the same thing. You just have to stick to it. Trust your gut and have a swing. That won't foul off

that picture. Looking for. Well, I think I was going to ask just a quick as a quick wrap up recap and just an overall general message of hating with runners and scoring position. But I think you already covered that. So I think we're good. Just be a dude. Want to be the player with runners and scoring position. Want that responsibility for your team. Just gosh, that's

that's the best. Like when you can drive in running, get high fives, man. That's what it's all about. That's what it's all about. So. Will you want to call it clutch? You want to call it relaxation? You want to call it what you are. But. Enjoy the moment. When you can help your team out. Okay. So focus on the enjoyment that'll bring you and your teammates

when you drive that run in. Well said, sir. Thanks, Jim. Great episode this week. Episode. Episode. So that's embedded. Yeah, I think so. National jam. Two times. Next, David, probably when he was on the ESPN set as a guest analyst or whatever, he probably was thinking the same thing. I am like this motherfucker. 25 years old. I should be in this national championship game. But that

was when I don't remember the the the broadcast or the guy doing the show. It's something like, you know, George is the team to beat. Everybody wants to be Georgia now. And savings like, hmm, just just wore it. But it's true. Was it McAfee? Might have been McAfee. Yeah, it was. Yeah. Did he go to Georgia? It was a former Georgia player. Oh, it was the

quarterback. What's his name? David something. I know you're talking about. Yeah, I can't remember. I don't think it was Pat Matt. It wasn't McAfee. Episode 129 next week established. This is a good one. Establishing proper goals. We'll talk about that next week. Establishing proper goals that you can succeed. And you can move your career forward with a lot of people have these grandiose goals, but you

have to establish the proper goals to get to the grandiose goals and to get to that grandiose prize. We'll talk about that next week. I love it. It reminds me I'm just going to wrap up here because I'll forget my next week. But I saw something with the polar bear. Why can't I think? He'd a lot of people. Peel on so who I truly love. That's

just avoided arbitration with Peter Lonzo, by the way. What's that? That's just avoided arbitration. Yes, Mr. I just I like him as a person. I like him as a player. I just, you know, he seems like a good guy. Anyway, he looked like Leafs driver of the actor, but he said something when he was in high school, he had to write a paper about what he

wanted to be or what he wanted to do. And the process that it would take him to get there. And he said he wrote a great paper on it. It was, you know, he wanted to be a professional baseball player. And he had to dedicate this much time. And he had to make sure his grades were up so that he could go to a good university

or maybe it was in college. It may have been at Florida. Actually, I think it was he wrote the paper at Florida. You know, I got to stay eligible. I got to do this and work this. And he said it was a really good paper. And he got like an Aff on it or a D. And the notes were, this isn't a realistic goal. That's what

his professor said. It wasn't a realistic goal. Well written, but not a realistic goal. Who's to say your goals are real. They're your goals. Right. Do whatever you want to do. You might fail at it, but it's still your goal. And look, he said that fired him up like he still thinks about that grade on that test and those notes, like at least a few times

a year. It was a really cool feed. Yeah. All right. Your goals. And then we'll figure out the way to attain them. What's the what's the right process for that? And we'll talk about that next week. Episode 129. Thank you for joining us today. Any questions, email us, Jimbo podcast 21 and gmail.com. We'll talk to you next week.