Nick Swisher’s Hitting Mechanics

After a prolonged September slump, Nick Swisher is one of the hottest hitters on the team. From August 27th to September 16th, the right fielder hit just .127/.244/.211. After a scheduled day off and a rain suspended game, Swisher has since picked things up with a .385/.484/.731 tripleslash. He’s got 4 homeruns over his last 6 games, and he’s driving runners in. Ichiro Suzuki‘s hot streak has helped this team get runners on base, but Swisher’s homeruns have become even more important .

The bat has come alive at the right time, which leaves me wondering whether it’s just luck or a change in his approach at the plate. Seeing the ball better is probably what he’d tell you, but why are all 4 recent homeruns hit from the left side? Looking back to his more recent slumps from August and September, it would appear that there are some differences in his leg kick.

It’s referred to as a hitter’s stride, and largely acts as both the timing mechanism and a source of power. On the left, we see Swisher take a longer and higher leg kick from the beginning of August, as opposed to a shorter kick on the homerun he hit Monday. While a bigger leg kick can result in more power, it also hurts your timing, giving you less chance to adjust yourself on pitches. You’ll see that during the homrun derby, players will exaggerate their leg kick to gain power off slow pitches, however they’ll often look completely mistimed on otherwise perfectly hittable pitches down the middle of the strike zone.

Most players don’t need a big leg kick off your typical pitcher, as they generate power from their high velocity. That said, we’re seeing an increasing number of players incorporate this type of power inducing stride during contract years. Last year, we witnessed a pretty rare Albert Pujols slump throughout May, and it was a change in stride that correlated with the slump. Players are likely hoping that larger power numbers increase their overall value on the free agent market in upcoming offseasn, but more often fall victim to slumps.

Nick Swisher is also facing a contract year this fall, so the large leg kick we saw in from the GIF in August could be his attempt to create more power. During this most recent streak, we’re seeing a much smaller and shorter stride, which has surely helped his timing. Now he just has to keep it this way for the playoffs.

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