Maybin credits blossoming at the plate to Seitzer's process to hitting
ATLANTA -- Cameron Maybin didn't know it then, but watching the Braves on TV during spring training -- at a time when he was still playing for the Padres -- was the first step in revitalizing his swing and approach to hitting.
Maybin was taking advantage of an off day in Peoria, Arizona to watch some Grapefruit League baseball from across the country. He randomly landed on a Braves game right at the moment Atlanta's new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer was talking.
Lucky to have DVR capabilities, Maybin paused the game, grabbed his notebook -- he's a visual learner and a big note taker -- and hit the rewind button. He then slowly went through the broadcast, enamored with what Seitzer was saying.
"I'm listening to Seitz do an interview about his hitting approach, what they do in BP," Maybin recalled. "I just felt like I was missing something, a little something, and then I heard his approach.
"I was watching the game and just listening to him explain what his philosophy has been. How weird was it that I ended up here."
On April 5, just a few weeks after he hung on every one of Seitzer's words from a TV broadcast, Maybin was a part of a deal that sent Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton Jr. to San Diego and brought top prospect Matt Wisler, Maybin and a few other pieces to the Braves. Now Maybin had a chance to work with Seitzer first-hand, but there wasn't a lot of time.
Maybin joined the Braves the day before Opening Day, and didn't get an opportunity to work with Seitzer during spring training. Any changes Atlanta's hitting coach wanted to make to Maybin's swing, he'd have to do it while working through the challenges of regular-season play. Maybin would be able to learn Seitzer's process, but he'd have to do so at a much slower rate.
Seitzer believes that hitting the ball up the middle and being able to spray a batted ball anywhere on the diamond are attributes of a good hitter. But he wants hitters to, most of the time, live in the middle of the field. There was a time at the beginning of spring training where Seitzer wouldn't let hitters leave batting practice until they had driven five balls off the protective screen in front of the pitcher's mound.
Hitting the ball in the middle of the field allows for more power, and that power not only translates into home runs, but extra-base hits too, Seitzer teaches. All those hits up the middle generate runs.
Seitzer also programs patience at the plate; picking the right spots to attack during certain situations to maximize effort. Being aggressive during a hitter's count allows for more opportunities to succeed by using the strengths of a particular hitter.
Finding Maybin's strengths were first priority.
"Going out there having quality at-bats, having an approach that Seitz and myself and (Castro) we all work on, and just not come out of your approach," said Maybin about the early stages of working with Seitzer. "Really being stern and stubborn in your approach and my strength. And my strength is hitting the ball to right field, using the whole field."
Once Maybin got the basics down from the Seitzer's process, the duo started tinkering with the mechanics of the center fielder's swing.
At 6-foot-3, Maybin has always been strong, but it's been what the hitter calls "wiry strong." In batting practice he never had a problem going toe-to-toe with any hitter at any level in terms on home-run power. But during games, sometimes that power didn't translate.
"I'm long," said Maybin. "I've got long limbs and long arms and one of the things they've really, really tried to focus on me with is making sure I keep my arms; keep my levers short. I had a tendency to arm bar at times, I still do it, but [I'm working now] to really keep my arms close to my body, being short, continue to be athletic."
Extending his arms when he began to swing greatly slowed down the time it took his bat to get through the strike zone. By bringing his arms in close it made his swing compact and quick through that zone. Maybin found that the leverage he gained with this adjustment not only helped him spray the ball all over the field, but increased the power it produced.
After the mechanical alterations, Maybin had to work on his approach. Extra time in the batting cage wasn't enough, he had to put in prep work to take advantage of matchups with pitchers, and find the right time to take advantage of certain situations, like hitting with runners on base.
"I've been seeing the result in those at-bats, in the quality of the at-bats to the ability to lay off some offspeed pitches," said Maybin. "I think it has been really nice. You look out there and the guy is wondering how you laid off that pitch. It's a good feeling, especially when I have the ability to hit the ball out of the park, drive the ball in the gap and lay a bunt down. These are all things that are really just starting to help me, and I just look forward to continue to keep doing it."
Maybin's walk rate is at 14.5 percent, the best it's ever been in his career. And while his strikeout rate for the season is still high at 24.2 percent, there have been vast improvements of late, not only with strikeouts, but in his hitting as well.
Over his last 11 games, Maybin has a .346 (9 for 26) average with an OPS of 1.062. In a small subset of time, Maybin's numbers over the last six games are even better. He's batting .467 (7 for 15) with a 1.267 OPS. Compare these two recent streaks to his season average of .231 with an .806 OPS.
During these streaks his strikeout rate has dropped dramatically too. The figure sits at just 14.7 percent since April 19 (his last 11 games) and 10 percent over his last six.
That's an incredible improvement over the course of five weeks of the season.
Maybin said he wished he'd been able to work with Seitzer during spring training, but the trade that brought him to Atlanta happened so late. As the season has progressed, Seitzer and Castro have fine-tuned his swing and helped him find the muscle memory that's so important to keeping a proper swing in tact.
With the extra walks and base hits has also come more power. Through 20 games and 62 plate appearances, Maybin's blasted four home runs. He's in third place on the team and far ahead of his previous career best, which was nine homers in 2011 with the Padres. And that was in 568 plate appearances.
He calls those four home runs "accidents" because he hasn't gone to the plate looking to dial up longball power.
"I've always been a guy that had power potential, but I always wanted to become a better hitter," said Maybin. "That's the thing, and I'm slowly -- and I hope it's not too slow and it continues to progress -- becoming a better hitter. And I think the power will come out.
"The sooner I become a better hitter, the more those accidents are going to happen, because I can tell you I haven't tried to hit one. But again, my approach has been right; my preparation. I credit it to work."
The work's not done, either, not by a long shot, said Maybin.
"I want to feel like when I go to sleep and wake up the next day, it's nothing," said Maybin. "I want it to be first-hand nature. That's a big reason why I'm in there [the batting cage] so much, why I'm taking the extra swings. It's still working smarter, not harder, because it's a long season and I've had a history of injuries. I want to make sure I feel good, but muscle memory is huge in this game."
On the injury front, Maybin said he's feeling better now than he has in some time, which he attributes to eating better and injury prevention. He's working out more during the season as he ages to keep his strength up, and working so much in the cage that Seitzer and Castro have to kick him out at times to make sure Maybin doesn't overdo things.
While he's working harder, and smarter, to maintain his body and his swing, Maybin has certainly enjoyed the fruits of his labor. All the hard work with Seitzer and Castro has started to pay off, but it's just a start. Maybin has been around long enough and has the wisdom to know that pitchers will eventually adjust as he shows more of his newfound hitting prowess.
When that adjustment happens, Maybin will rely on Seitzer's process to both physically and mentally keep pace with anything a pitcher hurls his way.
"I like the feel," said Maybin. "And that's the start of it, getting the feel."
