How Yankees coaches -- and Aaron Judge -- are looking to unlock Ryan McMahon's offensive potential

One day late in spring training, when many Yankees and the cameras that follow them were in Lakeland for a game against the Tigers, Ryan McMahon took batting practice off a machine at Steinbrenner Field.

Almost no one was around that day, not with roster decisions being finalized and half the team on the road. But it was clear to anyone who was there that he was working on something, looking back at coaches between swings, watching the flight of each ball closely, shaking his head after mishits.

Visit palladian.co.za for more information.

As he swung, Aaron Judge ambled out of the dugout and leaned against the back of the cage, eyes locked on McMahon. He stayed there for the next 20 to 30 minutes, sometimes popping out to start his now-iconic swing, using it to demonstrate the way he keeps his weight on his back leg and how his hands go from ready and waiting to heading toward the ball with no added motion. When McMahon hit the ball, Judge watched until it landed. Between swings, he offered encouragement.

“I’m telling you, man,” Judge said after McMahon sent a line drive to right center, as if urging McMahon to see new possibilities. “You have great power to all fields.”

McMahon, 31, has demonstrated consistent 20-home run power during his 10-year major league career. But he has never exactly been known for his hitting. What Judge seemed to be suggesting, and what Yankees coaches, tweaking things, seemed to be hoping, is that it was not too late to make improvements.

Early this season, he has struggled to provide even his usual levels of production. He, like many of his teammates, went hitless in Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Jeffrey Springs and the Athletics. That leaves him 2 for his first 29 at-bats this year — and one of those hits was a seeing-eye single on Opening Day.

The veteran’s first few weeks have been so frustrating offensively that his manager came to his public defense Thursday, insisting to reporters that McMahon is “a good major league hitter” – something managers do not often have to say when all is well.

“It’s 10 games. He’s scuffling right now, but the reality is, he’s been on base four times, too, with walks and hits and big at-bats,” Boone said Wednesday. “We want him to improve even who he’s been, obviously, in his career. And he’s off to a slow start right now, but a number of guys are.”

Though McMahon has been somewhat vague, those improvements Boone referenced largely center on McMahon changing the way he positions his body as part of an effort to be more on time. That is what McMahon was trying to feel that day in spring training, and when asked about it weeks after the fact, McMahon needed no reminding.

“I know exactly what you’re talking about. It was right near the end of spring training, right?” McMahon said. “That day, I had been struggling. Still am a little bit, but I’ll grind through it…”

That day, McMahon recalled, he was “grinding” through cage work while Judge was waiting for his turn. At one point, Judge walked over and looked at the iPad recording McMahon’s swings. He listened to what he and the coaches were talking about. Then he pulled McMahon aside and said, “I’ve got an idea for you.”

“He started talking, told me what he thought. So I said, ‘I’m going to go out and hit this machine until I can feel it,’” McMahon said. “He completely stops his routine. Comes outside to watch me. Pauses everything he’s doing that day. Watches every swing I take. Helped me out big time.”

New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after hitting a two run home run during the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Yankee Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

McMahon estimated Judge added an extra hour to his work that day – an otherwise quiet one that veteran hitters not in the lineup treasured for its brevity after weeks of spring training drudgery. And when presented with the idea that Judge, a massive righty with an unorthodox swing, might not be the most relatable instructor for a slight lefty with a more traditional one, McMahon interrupted.

“Yeah, but he understands. He understands how things can apply to other people,” he said. “The way he does it, what works for him is being extreme. Where I think he understands with other guys, it might not be extreme, but he can still talk the swing. They’re still mechanics that he knows and is trying to execute.”

As for those mechanics, McMahon has largely been vague about exactly what he is working on during his early-season struggles. But he said most of his work during that last week of spring training and the first days of the regular season centered on timing.

“Just trying to be able to swing as soon as that guy releases the baseball. And that’s like, a pretty well-known, obvious thing to do. But it’s hard,” McMahon said. “Being in a better spot, being close to that launch spot – where you launch your swing from. Making sure you can feel that and swing as soon as you need to.”

McMahon is not a member of the Yankees because of his bat. As long as he climbs out of his slump and into regular production levels, he will be fulfilling his duties to them. But they and their captain seem to believe he can do more offensively than he has in the past.

The start of McMahon's season has been frustrating. But for now, with an 8-4 record and other sluggers to carry them, they can afford to see if he can prove them right.

Read at source