Corey Seager Swing Analysis

Read time: 4 minutes

I'd like to thank today's sponsor of The Hitting Chronicle:

GameSense Sports

This product is specific for Sport-specific brain training for baseball and softball hitters. This pitch recognition training helps you improve your swing decisions at the plate.  

Receive $30 off your annual subscription by signing up with the link below:

GameSense Sports

Many things go into a hitter, making significant improvements at the plate. 

This week, we will discuss changes that impacted Corey Seager’s performance in 2023. 

First, let’s talk about his 2022 season. 

Context matters, so it’s important to note that 2022 was his first season with the Rangers organization. 

So I’m sure some of it was him adjusting to living in a new city and working with new teammates and staff members.

• Approach 
• Confidence 
• Personal Life 

 All of these have to be taken into consideration as well. We don't know these things because we aren't in his mind. 
 
THE SHIFT

 
The BIGGEST thing we have to mention is the shift.

 
In 2022, Seager was shifted on 93% of the time. He pulled a ton of round balls (107 ground balls), and only 6 of those were hits.

We also have to consider the mental effect the shift can have on hitters. It can be a mind game for some of them. 

 
2022 season:

• 245 AVG
• 317 OBP 
• 455 SLG 
• 772 OPS

 
What would his numbers have looked like in 2022 if the shift was taken away?

Something like this stat line, according to MLB.

 2022 Season (with no shift)

• .278 AVG
• .347 OBP
• .489 SLG
• .836 OPS.

Let’s look at what his swing was looking like in 2022. 

Here are 2 clips of him. 

Both pitches were breaking balls. 

I wanted to show breaking balls because it better represents adjustability during a hitter’s movement. 

 
First, the most important thing is the setup. 

Setup: 

Front foot turned inward.

Weight is evenly distributed between the back and front leg. 

Gather: 

Upper body slightly tilts over the back leg during his toe tap

Weight is now all in his back leg

Forward Move: 

Maintains his back hip load 

Allows him to buy time since it’s a breaking ball

 
Result: Home Run 

 
Now let’s look at 2023

2023 season: 

• 327 AVG
• 390 OBP
• 623 SLG
• 1.013 OPS

Setup: 

Notice the front foot is now pointed straight ahead and not inward 

Gather: 

Instead of tilting his upper body over his back leg, he starts to hinge to get into the back hip

He maintains even weight distribution for a longer time vs. 2022.

Forward Move: 

Because he doesn’t tilt his upper body over the back leg during his gather, he doesn’t have as big of a stride during his forward move. This allows his body to be more in sync and have more adjustability in his swing. 

Result: Home Run 

The main difference:

2022 Setup and Gather 

2023 Setup and Gather

Let's now look at how he goes about his work. 

"Seager's results are the bounty of a work day that he spends rebuilding his swing from the ground up every day. It involves a lot of exercises, video, FaceTime with a private coach, and shockingly little swinging of a bat, either in the cage or on the field."

"Seager's first move is to isolate the movements that eventually add up to the mechanics of his swing. Using video and video chatting with his private coach, he prepares his stance, begins rotating his body as he wants to in the heat of the moment, and hardly touches a bat for hours. Ecker estimates he spends two to three hours on this process".

"I'm just a big believer in if I get into the right positions. I'll be able to swing how I want to," Seager said.

"The philosophy at the core of Seager's daily routine is that feelings are fickle. Seager doesn't trust that whatever he feels in his swing or mechanics from one night to the next will be replicable or lead to consistent results. To Seager, it doesn't matter how it feels to take his swing. It matters how he moves and what he does".

"Feelings lie to you," Seager said. "That's why we videotape."

"Once Seager does move on to facing a pitching machine and taking swings, he reviews the video of every swing he takes. He can use high-speed cameras in the batting cage, and the Rangers can provide further kinetic feedback from the swings he takes in games".

All quotes are from this article.

Conclusion: 

In 2023, he didn't have to deal with the shift anymore.

This made a massive difference. 

Seager made a few mechanical changes from 2022 to 2023

He doesn't move his upper body over his rear leg as much now, keeping his posture over the top of his lower half for a more extended period. 

Lastly, he's obsessed with getting better. 

One of the things I talked about with the hitters I work with is you often underestimate the amount of work it will take to get you to be your best.

Until next Tuesday, Cheers

Whenever you're ready, there's 1 way I can help you:

We're working with baseball and softball hitters in Cincinnati, Ohio

If you or someone you know wants to become a complete hitter, which includes:

• Mental Game 
• Approach 
• Power 
• Consistency 
• Timing 

Then fill out this form, and we'll be in touch