St. Louis Cardinals: Stephen Piscotty’s New Approach at the Plate

The St. Louis Cardinals are about to begin the regular season while Stephen Piscotty is finalizing some modifications to his approach at the plate.

St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Stephen Piscotty saw quite a bit of success in his sophomore 2016 season. He batted .273/.343/.457 with 22 home runs and 85 RBI. However, much of that success came in the first half of the season hitting .295/.370/.493. Meanwhile in the second half, Piscotty only managed a slash-line .247/.310/.421.

Last season, Piscotty realized that his swings were inconsistent. His hands would roll over and his wrists were too stiff and too many hittable balls turned into weak infield grounders. Piscotty often found himself trying to catch up to pitches and that would lead to his hands rotating more than he wanted.

This past winter though, Piscotty has worked with a number of coaches to watch video to figure out the flaws in his approach and was surprised to find that it wasn’t his hands that were the problem. The problem was his back leg.

“I’ve given in,” Piscotty said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I’ve always been an upper-half-minded player, focused on my swing path, and neglected my lower half. The wrist roll is part of it, and that’s what I’m trying to get rid of.”

About two years after Piscotty changed his approach to generate more power, Piscotty is again tackling issues in the batter’s box. This time his goal is to stop “leaking” or leaning forward during an at-bat. Many hitters do this but fix the issue in order to give them more time to recognize a pitch while also having a more level swing. A more level swing would hopefully lead to more consistency and less wrist issues.

“I want to get to a point where I can just start playing chess with the pitcher,” Piscotty added. “I want to feel good about my swing and just dive into it. ‘He just threw me that? So, he’s probably going to come here next.’ I want to start playing that game. I haven’t gotten to do that a whole lot because I’m usually fighting myself.”

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St. Louis Cardinals hitting coach John Mabry backed Piscotty up: “He knows he can get more and he’s going after it. He wants to be a pillar of the team. When he’s comfortable, he will have more consistency over a longer period of time. More power. He hit 22 (homers) last year. The guy is so driven he wants to get to 30.”

Piscotty has joined a group of Cardinals young players that are working on the same issues. Paul DeJong and Carson Kelly are both taking on this mission while Matt Carpenter already did a few years ago which helped him unlock more power.

“As soon as you try to close your stance your body wants to naturally spin to get there quicker,” Piscotty explained to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “When I’m struggling, I’m always spinning like a top in the box. That’s not what you want. … Carp is an outstanding example. He made that change and he went from a guy who was really good to a guy who is an All-Star, an elite-caliber player. I would love to improve myself in the same way.”

The goal is that this approach will generate more consistency and increase his overall stamina. Both were issues in 2016. Fans may be concerned that the results haven’t come this spring, considering he’s batting .143/.250/.434, but Piscotty is not worried.

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“Sometimes you’re doing it right and you’re getting lucky, but if you’re intentional, then it’s something you can sustain,” Piscotty told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It’s one of those things where I know I can do it. I know the benefit. It’s all good stuff. I feel like the reward is worth the risk.”