Cutch Hitting .211

notes34 · Post by **notes34** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 11:21 am

777C74787D7C672224536A727B7C7C3D707C130 wrote: I agree, Quail. That is why I am kind of surprised if it was a mental issue.

We heard he has been correcting his swing for a while now. Even before he was moved in the line up. In his own words he said he was relieved to have less pressure. He actually said that, out loud. I know we (me) shouldn't assume, but that is why I put that assumption together.
I don't the start of his slump was mental. I believe it started last year with the thumb. Then he started trying to hit the ball out of the park on every swing and pulled everything. I do believe it started becoming a mental issue when he started hitting the ball hard and wasn't getting the results he expected. He went through about 3 weeks of hitting the ball on the money and not getting much in the way of results. Now he is working on changing his approach and it seems to be working.

dogknot17@yahoo.co · Post by **dogknot17@yahoo.co** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 1:26 pm

It has to be some mental. I get struggling to have hits land in and pressing a little more. He is the face of the team and was one of the worst players. That has to be on his shoulders. Plus, he even said he felt (too) much pressure batting third.

Feeling pressure is mental, not physical.

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 1:35 pm

3E353D3134352E6B6D1A233B3235357439355A0 wrote: It has to be some mental. I get struggling to have hits land in and pressing a little more. He is the face of the team and was one of the worst players. That has to be on his shoulders. Plus, he even said he felt (too) much pressure batting third.

Feeling pressure is mental, not physical.
I think you're taking that out of context. Cutch has batted 3rd for years, had great success and even was MVP. There didn't seem to be a lot of pressure on him then. He didn't suddenly decide he couldn't handle the pressure and then slumped. For whatever reason (bad mechanics?, bad luck?, bad plate discipline, bad pitch recognition?, some or all of the above?) he slumped and it became prolonged. The feeling of failing creates the pressure, not the other way around. So, as several have explained to you, the pressure, the mental aspect begins to play into it after a while. Which compounds the initial cause of the slump, whatever that was. But it's not as if he suddenly went into a slump due to mental reasons.

dogknot17@yahoo.co · Post by **dogknot17@yahoo.co** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 1:43 pm

I understand that the mental part didn't cause him to slump. The factors you mentioned probably came into play. But once the slumping started, he couldn't get out of it. He got worse and worse and was near .200 in batting average. That had to take a mental tool on him. I don't think I am taking it out of context. I saw the interview from start to finish.

He was always working on his swing. I didn't think it was a mental issue until he admitted to it. I am glad it was a pressure thing as he has too much talent as he demonstrated before batting in the three hole most of his career.

BenM · Post by **BenM** » Wed Jun 14, 2017 1:56 am

Welp, I think he's figured it out. Not including tonight, (2-4 HR) he's hitting .322/.404/.500 over the last month.

Looks like MVP Cutch might be back.

johnfluharty · Post by **johnfluharty** » Wed Jun 14, 2017 11:03 am

I am starting to believe it, too, Ben. This team has been hitting the ball like crazy recently. If Cole can get on a role and Kuhl can pitch like we know he can, we can make a run for this division.

iabucco · Post by **iabucco** » Wed Jun 14, 2017 2:18 pm

Who knows what all goes into all of it. Just look at what happened to Steve Blass. Cutch has for years batted third and been one of the best players in baseball. For a number of those years, the Pirates were perennial losers. He continued to hit well when the Pirates made the playoffs. He has traditionally started slowly and then lit it up when the weather got warmer. Part of me wonders over last year and this year, whether Cutch was trying to hit three run homers every at bat to try to carry the team. He was the face of the team and expectations were very high and when he and the team struggled, I think he started to try to do too much. I think moving him down in the lineup was a very literal way of showing him that the team did not expect him to carry the team. I think that, in conjunction, with the work he was doing to not pull everything helped. Then when he started hitting he regained his confidence. Confidence is a huge thing. Pitchers were pitching against him with confidence but now that he has his confidence there is more fear in how they approach him and I think that leads to more mistakes.

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Wed Jun 14, 2017 3:00 pm

21292A3D2B2B27480 wrote: Who knows what all goes into all of it. Just look at what happened to Steve Blass. Cutch has for years batted third and been one of the best players in baseball. For a number of those years, the Pirates were perennial losers. He continued to hit well when the Pirates made the playoffs. He has traditionally started slowly and then lit it up when the weather got warmer. Part of me wonders over last year and this year, whether Cutch was trying to hit three run homers every at bat to try to carry the team. He was the face of the team and expectations were very high and when he and the team struggled, I think he started to try to do too much. I think moving him down in the lineup was a very literal way of showing him that the team did not expect him to carry the team. I think that, in conjunction, with the work he was doing to not pull everything helped. Then when he started hitting he regained his confidence. Confidence is a huge thing. Pitchers were pitching against him with confidence but now that he has his confidence there is more fear in how they approach him and I think that leads to more mistakes.
I agree completely. Trying to do too much, pressure to be the guy who carries the team, developing bad habits, unwittingly getting away from what had made him a great hitter, loss of confidence. Moving him down in the order was the best thing for him.

johnfluharty · Post by **johnfluharty** » Wed Jun 14, 2017 3:12 pm

He said the two days off helped a lot because it allowed him to completely focus on his mechanics without having to worry about trying to fix anything in time to play the game that day.

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Wed Jun 14, 2017 3:19 pm

666364626A6079646D7E78750C0 wrote: He said the two days off helped a lot because it allowed him to completely focus on his mechanics without having to worry about trying to fix anything in time to play the game that day.
I think it also has to help to be able to work on mechanics without feeling like he better get 2 hits and drive in a run because it's expected when you bat 3rd.