Mere weeks ago, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Mickey Moniak probably wondered whether he might be, basically, a career minor-leaguer and possibly then a high school coach. The president of his MLB team had gone out publicly just before Thanksgiving and declared that Moniak and a teammate were not really in the team’s plans for the coming season.
At the time, most observers likely felt that Moniak had been given his shot again once too often, which was “natural” for a failing number one overall pick in the MLB draft five years later. His offensive numbers weren’t encouraging, and his defense was not near a level that would excuse, say, the .227 Baseball-Reference-projected batting average for his 2022 season.
Could anyone fix the Phillies’ Mickey Moniak? An answer to a question many Phillies fans had dismissed may be emerging.
Enter — after a lockout delay — Philadelphia’s new hitting coach, the respected Kevin Long. As Scott Lauber explains, after studying about 10 hours’ video of Mickey Moniak swinging a bat at baseballs, Long asked the outfielder if he had a fear of standing closer to the plate.
Moniak denied that he did, so Long moved him into the plate, giving the batter better plate coverage on outside pitches. He then added another adjustment. Moniak now does what countless Little League coaches have told youngsters for decades: “Stride toward the pitcher.”
Over the years (and apparently unnoticed by other Phillies coaches), the left-handed Moniak had begun to cross his right leg over his left when swinging.
Now he doesn’t. And voila! Moniak has three home runs, three doubles, and a single in 26 plate appearances this spring (before play on April 3). And a “wonderful” possibility arises for Phillies fans.
Only days ago, the Phillies center field platoon this season was expected to be Matt Vierling and Odubel Herrera. Then, the widely disliked Herrera pulled an oblique, putting him on the shelf for several weeks.
The right-handed Vierling has cooled off in spring competition after a hot start, but with only a few days left in Florida for the Phillies, he is still expected to go north with the team. However, Moniak’s offensive figures are actually better, and it seems a no-brainer that he will break camp with the team as the other center fielder.
Yes, the sample sizes are small, but….
After making his Long adjustments, Mickey Moniak commented, “When I was an amateur, I think this is how I hit.” Right. Like in Little League.