The last time we discussed teams doing less batting practice, it was during the playoffs when the Angels were pimp-slapped by Curt Schilling in Game 3. Needless to say, they didn’t perform well. And that brings us to Jerry Manuel, the newly appointed manager of the Mets. One of his first moves as the team’s skipper was to cut down on the amount of batting practice the players take before games.
Jerry Manuel wants quality swings during batting practice, not mind-numbing repetition. The Mets normally go with four shifts of eight swings each, and then rotate groups. Manuel has chopped those in half after noticing a lot of tired swings in games.
Well, nobody ever said Manuel wasn’t an independent thinker. Somehow having the team practice less isn’t exactly the message I would think you’d want to be sending to the media. But if it produces results, that’s all that matters. Besides, Manuel’s approach is quality over quantity. Not that rounds of eight swings is anything too much to begin with. Whatev. I doubt this was a change that really needed to be instituted.
