Kling can't hit.

He did. But he still can't hit at a level anywhere close to consistent. I hate it for him

Are they all named Kling today?

Which two?

He can hit. He was in his own head. Seems to quieted the mental side. He’s smashing the ball again.

quote:

---

This is kind of why you have to let him play out. All of those hard hit outs over the season are starting to fall


Paxton Kling Last 10 Games


.307/.454/.500

8-26 (.307)

5 2B
7BB / 9K
2 SBs

---

All of this. He's been putting the ball in play hard.

Agree

Kling has closed his stance up a bit the past couple of weeks, and you can tell he's really trying to focus on letting the ball travel. He hasn't been perfect, but he's barreling more balls up gap to gap, which is exactly where he needs to be. Some have fallen--a lot more than had previously--and some have been caught at the track. He still Ks too much, but he's clearly getting better and the more ABs he gets, the more grass those balls will find or will carry out of the park.

He's probably had that open stance that never fully closes for most of his life, and that muscle memory is baked in there pretty good and is going to take a lot of time and reps to fix. He was likely able to get away with it up until SEC play the past couple of years because most pitchers he was facing just weren't good enough to take advantage of where he was vulnerable (outer 3rd on fastballs and good off speed that ran away from him--glove side from RHP and arm side from LHP).

They would eventually give him something middle in, and he would barrel it up for homers and doubles. I don't know what his high school numbers were, but they must have been really good considering how highly touted he was. Pitchers weren't good enough to expose his vulnerabilities, and he was more than good enough to make them pay when they left something in his wheelhouse. He never really had to focus on letting the ball travel and trying to go the other way until he started facing SEC pitching, and those dudes are really good and can hit their spots and take advantage of his weaknesses.

But you can tell he's adjusted both his mechanics and his approach. It's not gonna get fixed overnight--too much muscle memory ingrained. But at least he's trying to do something different. Which was my biggest problem with him at the beginning of the year and why I wanted him to sit. What he was doing was obvious, but he didn't seem to be trying to correct it.

But now that you can tell that he is--AND he's starting to see some good results from it--and I think it's a no-brainer to write him in the lineup card everyday and let get as many ABs as possible. I think with the weather heating up and the competition dropping a bit, you'll see him get some more confidence and go on a heater before the end of the season.

He is a fast .200 hitter that hits singles from the left side. No more no less.

quote:

---

hits singles from the left side.

---