Two hitting coaches a real hit with Jones

Some people think third baseman Chipper Jones doesn't really need a hitting coach. He has abundant natural talent, after all, not to mention that his dad, who was always his hitting coach, can spot any flaws by watching on TV.

And he has nearly two decades of major league experience behind him.

But Jones enjoys talking about hitting, so the more people he can discuss it with, the better. He's in heaven now that the Braves have hired two hitting coaches.

"I'm a huge advocate of having as many eyes on it as you can," Jones said.

Greg Walker will be the main hitting coach, the one who will be in uniform on the bench. His assistant is Scott Fletcher, who will be responsible for video work. That includes breaking down the swings of the Braves hitters and also advance scouting of opposing hitters and pitchers.

Manager Fredi Gonzalez is jokingly calling Fletcher "the vampire coach," because he'll be spending all his time in the video room.

The video Fletcher's compiling for the Braves and Walker -- his teammate when they played for the White Sox -- can break down a hitter's swing into more than a dozen parts, from the head down.

Heel positions and toe taps, for example, can be isolated and compared.

That's the part Jones is loving right now, as he works on his right-handed swing. Usually at this time of the year, he's ironing things out from the left-hand side. Because he's naturally right-handed, the left-handed swing involves more moving parts and takes longer to smooth out.

But because Jones got into some bad habits at the end of last season as he continued to play despite pain in his surgically repaired right knee, he is having to find the slot for his hands from the right side.

"I want to tighten things up and be able to sit down on my back leg," Jones said. "I can do that now, but it feels weird to me because I've been doing it wrong for a while.

"There's no doubt I got into bad habits. I couldn't stay on my back side at the end of the year right-handed because my knee was killing me. So I came down front-footed. It made things difficult and that's not the way I want to hit."

The critical part, though, is that his right knee is pain-free. He can get down into his swing. He feels good walking into the cage.

NOTES, QUOTES

-RF Jason Heyward might be smaller, thanks to dropping nearly 20 pounds in the offseason, but his smile is bigger. After working with new hitting coach Greg Walker and his assistant, Scott Fletcher, he has regained the hitting mechanics that went haywire last season, when he struggled because of shoulder and thumb injuries.

-3B Chipper Jones took three perfect swings left-handed in the cage this week, then noted wryly: "I guess I'd better work right-handed." He isn't satisfied yet with where he's getting his hands set when he hits from the right-hand side of the box.

-RHP Craig Kimbrel is working on locating his changeup, which he may use during the season if he's able to master it. But even if it's not ready for prime time, throwing it helps stretch him out for his fastball. He has yet to throw his curveball.

-LHP Mike Minor, vying again this spring for the fifth starter's job, said: "All my pitches are everywhere right now." His says his arm feels good, but that it's lagging and he isn't following through. Fortunately, he knows the point of the Braves' early throwing program is to get these preseason inconsistencies out of the way.

-RHP Tim Hudson, who underwent surgery to repair a disc in his back late in November, had been playing light catch in his yard until begin cleared by doctors this week to increase his throwing.


QUOTE TO NOTE

"He's going to be the vampire coach!" -- Manager Fredi Gonzalez, joking that assistant hitting coach Scott Fletcher will be watching so much video, he'll never see the light of day.

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/mlb/article_external/two_hitting_coaches_a_real_hit_with_jones/9897733

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