Beltre and his bat of Bamboo

by PLU Tim on Jul 1, 2007 5:17 PM PDT

There is something about Adrian Beltre that is just driving me batty.

I think we can agree that Beltre is as strong as an ox. He certainly has the physical strength to hit many balls out of the ball park over the course of a season.

After watching him hit that long foul ball today that just looked smashed coming off of the bat. I was surprised to see the ball land in foul territory, well short of what would have been homerun distance. This is a recurring thing with Beltre. Time and time again, I see the guy hit a ball that looks gone off of the bat only to land short of the wall.

The question I have is: Why does the ball not "jump" off of Beltre's bat when he makes contact?

In theory it takes 3 things to happen to hit a homerun:

1. Contact with the baseball is made somewhere around center mass of the ball.

2 and 3: Momentum = Mass x Velocity. Velocity is imposed on the baseball in the form of batspeed. Mass is imposed on the baseball in the form of the size of the bat itself.

I've never heard anyone comment on Beltre's batspeed as being anything but normal.

Is it possible that the guy uses a bat that is too light? Is he not as strong as we perhaps think that he is?

There has to be an explanation as to why Beltre can't get balls over the wall on a more regular basis.

Anyone have any ideas?

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I can certainly tell when it's his bat

but I have no idea how heavy it is.

No, sir, they're saying Boo-vasi.

by Mariner John on Jul 1, 2007 5:34 PM PDT reply actions

I don't know what game you were watching

But Beltre's "home run" today had the distance. It landed high enough to clear the wall in front of the scoreboard. Sure, maybe it would've bounced off the scoreboard and back in play for a double, but it was hit long enough.

Besides, keep in mind that the Safe eats his kind alive. Nobody would be speculating this kind of thing if we played at a neutral park.

Felix, you magnificent bastard.

by Double06 on Jul 1, 2007 6:22 PM PDT reply actions

Whatever Bro....

That's not the point. Off of the bat it looked like a 420 footer that may have, if a tad straighter, scraped the back of the wall for a homer.

My point still stands. I have no idea why he constantly looks like he drives the ball 420 but it only goes 340.

by PLU Tim on Jul 1, 2007 7:39 PM PDT up reply actions

He kind of hit that ball off the end of his bat

which is why it pulled foul. That could explain why it didn't "jump" off the bat

Shop smart......Shop s-mart...... YOU GOT THAT!!!!

by Scruffy Lefty on Jul 1, 2007 6:48 PM PDT reply actions

Ok....

So maybe he needs a longer or shorter bat. He just has a problem hitting the "sweet spot" of the bat?

Am I the only one that has noticed this about Beltre?

by PLU Tim on Jul 1, 2007 7:42 PM PDT up reply actions

I think its pitch selection.

The few low outside pitches he actually hits provide a lot of false hope off the bat. He hasn't seen and won't see a lot of power pitches inside until he lays off more without pointing to the 1b ump.

by hcoguy on Jul 1, 2007 9:04 PM PDT reply actions