Can it be? Is Jeff McNeil turning his season around? Since the All-Star break, Jeff McNeil has been hot. He has shown power by crushing four home runs with 12 RBIs since the return to play. This is the McNeil that several have been waiting for. For games from July 26 to August 2, McNeil is slashing .250/.278/.278 with a .556 OPS. Let’s take a look at McNeil’s approach at the plate for games from July 26 to August 2.
Jeff McNeil’s golf swing seems to be finally paying off. As shown in the graph below, McNeil has been able to drive balls down-and-in, most of which have traveled over 200 feet or more. McNeil consistently likes pitches down-and-in, but was really struggling to connect with these pitches in the first half of the season. Much of this had to do with his footwork in the box. He was shuffling his feet often, making his swing unbalanced, particularly with down and in pitches. Now, it seems that McNeil is much more stable with his footwork, allowing him to drive these types of pitches.
One area of struggle for McNeil is pitches away from him in the zone. While he is connecting on these pitches, he is not able to drive them, many of which have resulted in ground balls.
It seems that McNeil is finding his swing and his confidence. The former batting champion did not show as such for the first half of the season, however, he is showing promise for the second half. The new found power is a nice added bonus to McNeil’s repertoire. Look for McNeil to continue making contact in his sweet spot of down-and-in, while making adjustments at the plate to cover the entire strike zone. The outside part of the zone is currently hurting him, but look for him to make the necessary improvements to cover this area.
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