The Mechanics List: My Top 5 Hitters

The mechanics obsession will never end for me. Hitting is even more individualized than pitching. At times, analyzing swing mechanics feels impossible. Data helps, but the ultimate goal is to empower the player to understand their own swing to the point where they can make adjustments on a pitch-to-pitch basis.

Hitting is contradictory at times. You can execute a flawless swing and whiff right under a pitch. Any swing must be paired with some sort of ability to actually make contact. But there exists an exclusive group of hitters whose near-perfect swings allow them to manufacture a great hit tool. Mike Trout can cover almost the entire plate, but these swings don’t grow on trees. Each hitter has their own traits. No two swings are the same. That’s the beauty of it all. Speaking of beauty, please indulge me while I rant about my five favorite swings in the game.

Number 5: Mike Trout

I have respect for the goat. I will not defame myself or the goat while making this list. Mike Trout has the best swing in baseball, no ifs, ands, or buts. You know the best comparison for Mike Trout’s swing? It’s Barry Bonds. This is the definition of short and compact. The crazy thing about it is that he’s capable of staying so short while launching balls almost 500 feet. This one went 486 feet to left center.

Effortless. There’s not much else to say, but I’ll point out one thing. Trout is elite at hitting balls on the outer third of the plate for pull side home runs. This is a common trait among the best power hitters. The hip-shoulder separation allows them to do it. They stay corked in their hips allowing their bat path to cover this pitch. Due to his hips rotating separate from his torso, he creates depth with his barrel. Although, Trout is elite at more things than just that. He’s the goat.

Number 4: Michael Conforto

This may be a surprise to some. Conforto easily made my top five favorite swings. Number four is a solid spot, making him one of my favorite lefty swings. I’ve always been a fan of Confort. In many ways, he is the definition of the classic lefty hitter who scorches anything low and in. This one was off the plate and still launched for 452 feet.

If you read my piece on some of my favorite throwing mechanics in the game, then you know I love players with great posture. Same thing goes for hitting. If you can maintain superb posture while hinging your hips, then you’re bound for success.

Elite posture throughout the swing? Check. Elite hip uncork? Check. Elite separation? Check. This swing is textbook. Unwinding your hips like he does without committing the shoulders too early allows him to delete this baseball deep into right field.

How does one crush a pitch several inches inside? You clear your hips while maintaining your torso position. Conforto stays in his hinge while rotating his hips and NOT committing his shoulders. When you slow it down it really is a thing of beauty. Hm sounds similar to Trout? You might see a trend here.

Number 3: Gavin Lux

When making this list, I realized I love some lefty swings way more than I thought I would. It’s only a matter of time for Lux to prove his status in the bigs. His swing is special and a big reason why I think he will break out this year. In my eyes, he was neck and neck with Wander Franco after 2019 for the title of best prospect in the game.

Two things stick out for me with his swing: the bat comb and the scap load. Bat comb may be a new term for most. It quite literally means combing your hair (or helmet) with the barrel of the bat. People also refer to it as tipping the barrel. Combing allows the hitter to create depth. Increased barrel depth gives hitters significantly more room for error in swing timing. Let’s lock in on what that looks like for Lux.

Imagine you set up a tee in the middle of home plate. That’s an extremely deep point of contact. But a hitter with depth in their swing can still get a barrel on that. In the context of a game, it lets a hitter have the same swing timing for a fastball and breaking ball and still be able to successfully lift each pitch despite the speed difference.

Now let’s discuss the scap load. In the clip above, it’s the point when Lux’ left tricep suddenly appears in the frame. This happens in unison with the bat comb. You may think that the hands/wrists guide the comb, but that’s not how most hitters cue it. This is a result of retracting your back shoulder blade (scapula). In real life, you feel this by pinching your shoulder blades together. A hitter with quality scapula movement can use it to create more barrel depth. Lux is that kind of hitter.

Number 2: Ketel Marte

Is this cheating? Ketel has two swings and they’re both equally beautiful but also contrast one another! Ketel is one of the most talented players in the big leagues. With switch hitters, it’s common to have one power side and one contact side. I’m not sure that applies to Ketel though! He can go plakata left and right and it looks smooth. Ketel has been tweaking his swing for years but it seems as if he’s finally settled in on his stroke from both sides.

He’s a natural righty. Perhaps that’s why he has a bit more power on that side. His ISO in 2019 was .297 on the right side and .251 on the left. For the first few years of his career he focused on keeping the two swings identical. I found that perplexing. With the help of his hitting coaches in Arizona, he’s slowly made changes to optimize the differences of each swing. Despite being smaller in stature, Ketel has incredible pure power. Regardless of the batting side, he makes it look effortless. That’s a common trait we see among hitters with efficient movements, biomechanically speaking. Some hitters that come to mind are Robinson Canó, David Wright, Albert Pujols, and Miguel Cabrera.

Above all else, Marte is a feel hitter. His stances over the years have been a significant factor in allowing him to get in the proper position to swing. Both stances slightly changed from 2020 to 2021. After an explosive 2019, Marte hit a bit of a rut in the 2020 sprint season. However, the hot 2021 start suggests he’s back to his 2019 self. After some mechanical tweaking, he’s already equaled his home run total from last year. The clips of Marte from both sides show that he’s all about getting in a rhythm. Whether it be through leaning back or resting on the shoulder, it looks like the key for Marte is getting in his load as smooth as possible.

Mookie Betts

I cannot get enough of Mookie’s swing. He is easily the hitter I love to watch most in the game. Every at bat is a battle against him. He can wear you away and take you deep. He’s not a big dude. Listed at 5’9 180 pounds. Normal size, nothing crazy about it. This is why he must harness the athleticism of his entire body in order to hit for the power that he does. The way he interacts with the ground is beautiful.

Just the way that he completely changes his body angle throughout the swing in incredible. Like I said, he is a smaller player relative to others. Despite this, he has 30 homer power. When you are capable of creating and capturing energy like Mookie, dingers to all fields are possible. Not many hitters can move this much and still make hard contact as often as he does. That’s because in addition to his superb acceleration, he has perfect deceleration. Betts captures and controls so much energy with his front leg at landing. It’s crazy. He almost looks like he’s falling forward because of how much stretch he creates.

Pure efficiency. The external rotation of his lead knee is magnificent. The wide range of motion plus the strength is incredible. When you’re a powerful rotational athlete, it is great to have the mobility that Betts has. But to get the most of out of it there must be strength. The harmony of these two gives you Mookie Betts.

This is the final thing I’ll point out. This finish is golf-like. It’s extremely controlled. Another guy who finishes like this is Nolan Arenado. I’ve talked about this before but the ability to slow down parts of your body when needed is crucial for an above average hit tool. It helps with making contact more frequently because your body is easily adjustable. Unsurprisingly, Betts and Arenado both have elite whiff% and K%. Think of other hitters with that style of finish. I guarantee they have a great hit tool.

Now I can’t just leave here without mentioning some of my other favorite hitters in the league. But I’ll leave these for you to analyze yourself. Here are some honorable mentions in no particular order:

· Miguel Cabrera (perfection)

· Vlad Guerrero Jr. (plakata)

· Fernando Tatis Jr. (athletic)

· Ronald Acuña Jr. (unique bat angle)

To round out my favorite swingers:

· Mike Trout

· Michael Conforto

· Gavin Lux

· Ketel Marte

· Mookie Betts

I hope y’all are enjoying these deep dives. Maybe it will give you a bit of insight on some common traits among the elite athletes in MLB. They do things that normal humans cannot and that’s pretty cool.