With no real games to cover, spring training reporters often fall for the low-hanging fruit of “This guy reworked his swing!” or “So-and-so has a brand-new delivery!” to avoid having to write about pitcher fielding drills. (And who can blame them?)
I’ve asked around about some of these players, and here are some notes from scouts, coaches and executives on a few players who showed up to spring training with something substantially different about their mechanics or approaches. Bear in mind that I have yet to see any of these changes in person.
Taijuan Walker, Arizona Diamondbacks
Walker’s mechanics have changed several times since his breakout year in low-A in 2011, when he punched out 113 with a 2.89 ERA in 96.2 innings as an 18-year-old just a year out of high school. His repertoire has changed too, as he had a big curveball in high school that disappeared somewhere between there and the majors, and he has messed with a slider and cutter while his changeup has morphed a few times.
The results have been consistently inconsistent, and everyone who sees the stuff and athleticism expects better results than Walker has delivered: a 4.41 ERA with 52 homers allowed in 304 innings the past two years -- all well below average given his home park.
Traded to Arizona this winter in a deal that sent Mitch Haniger (who, I’m told, has looked very good for Seattle in the early going) and Jean Segura north, Walker has a new delivery yet again. But this time it looks "right." His delivery is cleaner and more athletic, and he has been getting the fastball in the zone to both sides more frequently than he did in recent years. His cutter has also been better, and he seems to be getting to his front side more easily than before.
Although there are still some questions about his ability to repeat any delivery and whether he can have a true above-average breaking ball, this version of Walker looks a lot more like his 2011 self than any version we’ve seen since then.
Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox
The comment I heard from a scout on Anderson this spring didn’t quite line up with what has changed, but I think it’s emblematic of the same thing: He is starting to make some progress with his selectivity at the plate. The scout in question thought Anderson had become more compact at the plate, but the White Sox said they hadn’t changed his mechanics -- just his mental approach.
Anderson hasn’t shown much patience at any level, but he was particularly impatient in the majors last year. He was called up after just 55 games in Triple-A, and then he walked 13 times in 431 plate appearances in the majors. (Odd fact: He has never drawn a walk in spring training, with 47 plate appearances across three seasons.)
The White Sox tried to get Anderson to focus on staying in the zone more, a matter of distinguishing balls and strikes better and thus making better choices on when to swing. He might be shortening up on his own to execute this plan, but his swing mechanics are the same.
I wasn’t a big fan of Anderson's getting the call so soon last season because I thought his OBP skills weren’t ready for the majors, and his growth might be stunted by the need to survive against major-league pitching. If he reaches a level of patience where he might draw 40 walks this year instead of 15-20, that’s a huge boost to his value -- and to his ceiling in 2019-20.
Heyward’s first year with the Cubs got him a World Series ring, but at the plate, he was an utter disaster. He hit .230/.306/.325, with a 72 wRC+ that was fourth-worst among qualifying players at all positions and the worst by any non-shortstop. He had been something of a ground ball hitter for several years, but in 2016, Heyward started popping the ball up more often, with the 12th-highest infield fly ball rate (out of 146 batters) in baseball. There’s really no silver lining in his 2016 performance at the plate; he was just abysmal.
One part of that was that his swing, which has changed multiple times since he first reached the majors, seemed to have gotten very long from his loaded position until the bat was in the zone. He worked on changing his mechanics this winter, and for that, he has received a ton of media coverage in the early going this spring.
Although his hands might be in a better position now, everything about his swing remains slow, from how his hands get started to his actual bat speed through the zone. All the mechanical tweaking in the world won’t mitigate a total loss of bat speed, and it means pitchers will continue to use velocity against him with impunity. The Cubs could try to make him shorter to the zone and have him cheat on fastballs, but he would end up vulnerable to everything else. Heyward started out 0 for 15 this spring and took a couple of days off for cage work before hitting a homer and double on Monday against the Angels, but he still has a long way to go.
Tyler Glasnow, Pittsburgh Pirates
I don’t know if Glasnow’s delivery is better than it was last year, but it’s definitely different. The Pirates wanted Glasnow to control the running game better and have a shot at better fastball command. This has led to some significant adjustments in his delivery, including a big pause after he starts his windup that lasts a couple beats, as if he’s counting to something, and a motion that holds him over the pitching rubber much longer than before.
The best comparison I can give you for Glasnow’s delivery is that he looks like the dance Bert from "Sesame Street" does while "Doin' the Pigeon." It’s certainly awkward to watch, but I can see how taking a moment to "gather" himself before he begins his movement toward the plate might help him stay online, especially given his long limbs and the trouble pitchers this tall (he’s 6-foot-8) often have keeping their deliveries together.
Still, I don’t understand how this would help him control the running game if that were indeed part of the goal. Not only does he seem to take longer to get to the plate, but also it’s such a rigid delivery that I think it would be hard for him to adjust to hold a runner or throw at one who takes off. However, if the result is better fastball command, I think everyone would accept some continued difficulty with the running game.