Breaking Down Pittsburgh Pirates Swing Mechanics – Part I

Francisco Cervelli – C

Francisco Cervelli is the new catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates so I haven’t seen that much footage of him hitting yet. In the video above you can see that his swing is very simple and easy to repeat. It looks like he went with the “KISS” method of keeping it simple, stupid. He starts the bat in a relatively flat plane which you usually don’t want to do because it will take longer to get the barrel around. As you can see he quickly drops his hands ever so slightly to get the bat into a better position for contact. Cervelli doesn’t have a leg kick per say but he does have a slight timing belt with him turning his front foot in as the ball is in coming in. This slight foot turn helps remind him to use his hips and core muscles and not his arms.

Pedro Alvarez – 1B

Pedro Alvarez…that’s all I have to say! No, but seriously his swing is right on the money. Pedro keeps his hands in a hitting position at all times throughout his swing. Pedro transfer all his weight to his back leg before unleashing it all into the swing. His leg kick has come down over the years which is good because his head used to come out of his swing for an off-speed pitch. When Alvarez’s front foot comes into contact with the ground you see the weight get sifted and his front leg then becomes locked as his hands go through the zone. Pedro has been working on letting the ball travel deeper into the zone which has been evident by his opposite field power.

Next: So Which Infielder Has the Best Swing?