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A first look at Dayan Viciedo's new leg kick (or lack thereof)

The televised debut of the Tank's new timing mechanism is inconclusive

USA TODAY Sports

Since Wednesday's webcast took place while 85 percent of the world is working, I couldn't GIF the broadcast premiere of "Dayan Viciedo: Kickin' It."

Which is a shame, because I could use the replays. I don't know what to make of it yet. I don't know if there's actually anything to make anything of. It varied from at-bat to at-bat, so at this time, I only feel comfortable concluding that it isn't drastic, whatever it is.

His first at-bat against Alexi Ogando lasted only one pitch, as he turned around a fastball and lashed a single to center. While he didn't look like he plans on imitating Harold Baines with his front leg, there was a distinct and smoother lifting and planting of his left foot.

In his two subsequent at-bats against Robbie Ross -- a flyout to deep center, and a sizzler back through the box -- his front foot was ... jabbier. In fact, without a replay, I can't say for certain if it was any different from what his front foot did last season:

Here's where it's worth noting that Ogando is a hard-throwing right-hander, while Ross is a lefty. That could be important, because when assessing his performance against southpaws, he didn't need to change a thing. His splits from 2012:

Split PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG
vs RHP 410 382 86 9 1 16 55 19 103 .225 .271 .380
vs LHP 133 123 43 9 0 9 23 9 17 .350 .391 .642

Going by what I saw (or didn't see), it could be entirely possible that he's only emphasizing this mechanism against right-handed pitchers. Either that, or the inconsistency is merely a byproduct of what Robin Ventura called a "work in progress."

We'll have four chances to watch Viciedo in action starting on Saturday, so hopefully we'll have a better idea of what might actually be happening by next week. Further bulletins as events warrant!