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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 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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!