Blue Jay Fans have been wondering what has happened to dynamic duo of Aaron Hill and Adam Lind. After having break out seasons in 2009, they have been shaddows of last year.
Hill was mired in a terrible and this was as a result of a major dip in his swing. Aaron early in his career was a line drive hitter who hit home runs by accident, now he dips his back shoulder and hits a huge percentage of pop ups. His pitch selection has been good, strikeouts aren't bad, he is simply missing the good pitches to hit by popping up the pitch. He is also a bit pull happy. If you use the hit chart for Aaron Hill, you will see that he has been a dead pull hitter.
Spray Chart
Lind is a bit more of a complex situation than the pull happy Hill. Lind likes to extend, and is deadly on the pitch away from him. Major League pitching decided that they would pound him and go soft away. Time and again Lind would fly open and pull rockets foul. And then hit a week ground ball to short or second on something off speed. This also caused his front foot to fly open, further reducing his ability to hit the pitch that made him so successful in 2009(the Fast Ball Away). Strike zone knowledge is a key factor in not wasting strikes/swings on those pitches in off the play. If Lind does swing at those, he would be putting himself in better counts.
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