Monday, June 6, 2011

On Adam Lind's Swing



(The G in GROF also stands for Graph)


You’ll be forgiven if you’ve forgotten who am I. I’ve been off the grid for the last while fighting through a scary bout of possibly permanent dehydration. But I had to let someone know how much I enjoyed watching Adam Lind swing a baseball bat again.

This has been a tough season for me to watch. Sure Jose Baustista has allowed us to hold our heads high on the streets, and in the baseball blogosphere, as Blue Jay fans. And Jo-Jo Reye’s first win in however long was goddamn adorable. But when Travis Snider was sent down to AAA after not even hitting triple digits in plate appearances it was like a kick in the stomach to my enjoyment of this season.

For the past two years I have been telling my Vancouver homies (and myself!) over and over that it’s fine that the Jays are going to be just ok for the next few seasons. “They’re going to see what they have with some of these young kids and make a push in 2012” I said in my gnarly west coast accent. Then the greatest, and most rosey, of all Blue Jays prospects wasn’t given a chance to figure things out. What do we have in Travis Snider? Well, we did see he can play defense on a Major League level. That’s something I guess.

Then today, for the first time in a almost a month, I watched Adam Lind swing a bat. And it was beautiful. Bautista’s swing is great, no doubt. But it’s vicious and violent and full of hate. Lind’s swing makes you grin. It’s a swing you bring home to meet your mom.

I missed it. And not because he went 4 for 4 with a couple of what I like to call Buck Martinez mumble-yells (“That ball is hit.. and..hmmmgrrrffftt... outta here!”)

When you watch your favourite team tread water for a 162 games season after season sometimes you need reminders of why you watch baseball. Adam Lind’s swing was that for me yesterday.

And I feel good about Blue Jays baseball again. Though I don’t know how much longer I can wait for Travis Snider to be called out of exile.... #freeTravisSnider

Dave Burrows is the West Coast contributor to GROF. He is able to bring a different angle to the site because he can stay up later. Follow him on twitter.

9 comments:

  1. Nice to see some new blood on the this here blog. The more blood the better.

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  2. Agreed. It was getting pretty stale up in here.

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  3. I knew Dave back when he was just a tumblr!

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  4. I much prefer the GROF Graph of Happiness compared to FanGraphs Game Graphs.

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  5. If you look at how shit Snider's numbers are in Vegas you kind of get an idea of how off his mechanics are..

    I still have hope for him fixing his issues, but it appears they may have made the right call...

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  6. I disagree with the above poster. Snider is revamping his swing down there, its Not about the numbers. Also he would not of gone through the swing adjustments at the ML level.

    To quote AA: Asking Drabek to work on his change up is easier to do in the minors then in Yankee Stadium. That was his response to Sniders AAA stint

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  7. Snider has one homer in 149 ABs in Vegas and is only hitting .282 (the league average is currently .283). I hate to say it, but I don;t see him becoming an impact hitter in MLB.

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  8. Oh fucking EM GEE! He is hitting poorly in 149 AB in the minors? When team reps have said that they are getting him to completely overhaul his swing? He's toast, it's LunchBocolypse. Everyone panic and lose their shit!

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  9. But how many bats has he snapped over his knee?

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