The Mets' hitting coach says that the outfielder is struggling to find a consistent stroke.
There has been mixed opinion regarding Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson here at Amazin' Avenue this year. While some of us think that the four-year, $60 million deal that Sandy Alderson handed to Granderson is an example about how the general manager should stick to his guns regarding long-term contracts, others point to Granderson's strikeout and walk rates as reason for hope that he'll improve in 2015.
Mets hitting coach Lamar Johnson agrees that there is reason for hope... if Granderson changes his swing over the winter.
"Overall, there are some things I would like to see him do a little different next year," Johnson told Newsday this week. "But right now, I'm just trying to get him to drive the ball... I see some things where I know it's going to have to be (changed) in the winter."
While Granderson is not having too much trouble making contact this season -- his 22-percent strikeout rate is down six percent from his last full season with the Yankees -- the outfielder's power stroke could use some work. His 16 home runs feel like a lot for a Mets hitter, but Graderson's isolated power of .144 is the lowest figure of his career.
"The big thing that I talk to all the hitters about is developing one consistent swing," said Johnson, who took over in May after the firing of Dave Hudgens. "You do the same thing in the cage, in batting practice, and in the game. That's what we're going to work on. Sometimes, we develop to different swings, some guys do. I just want him to develop one swing, a consistent swing, and that's what we've been working on since I've been here. It's being consistent with your swing, your bat path."
The author of that article, Marc Carig, points out that Granderson has made swing adjustments in the past. When he was struggling in the Bronx in 2010, the outfielder made some changes with Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long that supposedly paved the way for the 40-home run campaigns of 2011 and 2012.