From
Bryan Hoch (hat-tip to TYU):
While the rest of baseball clings to its last weeks of Hot Stove hibernation, Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long has already rolled into the new season, logging frequent-flyer miles to put in batting cage hours with several players.
Long is spending this week overseeing Alex Rodriguez's first swings of 2010 and has already spent a good chunk of the winter helping Nick Swisher. A visit with Curtis Granderson is also ahead, as Long sacrifices his down time in the hopes that New York's offense will be a dominant force as they defend the World Series title.
"Last year, I set out to bring guys together and get a real pulse of guys to see where they were," Long said. "I wanted to see if we could make this a more team-oriented group. [Manager] Joe Girardi did a terrific job, obviously, and it seemed like those efforts were well-spent. I don't have a problem doing it if guys come together. The team chemistry that I saw last year was a lot of fun."
Long mentions in the article that Swisher got a steady diet of off-speed stuff during the playoffs and struggled, so that's been one of the main thing's he's focused on with Swish:
"We've got his hands closer to his body, and we've got to get him consistent with his lower half. If we do all of those things, you might see a guy who's able to react better to an offspeed pitch."
Next week Long will be meeting with one of the newest Yankees, Curtis Granderson, and as you might expect he'll be trying to help him figure out how to hit lefties.
"He's obviously more productive against right-handed pitching, but he's had productive years against left-handed pitching -- and a lot of non-productive years," Long said. "My job is to try to get him to feel as comfortable as possible, without forcing it. I don't know what he's done in the past, but I'd really like to get a sense of his mentality against left-handed pitching."
Gotta give Long credit for being as dedicated as he is. Keep up the good work, Kevin.
