Imagine Who You Could Become

@audreypocrass2025 had a day! For @yorktownsoftball

Four doubles, one triple, and nine RBIs to help her team win against Washington and Liberty.

Congrats to Audrey and her team on an awesome game!

Audrey has been working with Ignite since she was about 10 years old. She’s worked really hard and is an awesome player. Keep rolling! ...

Rafael Palmeiro was one of the premier left-handed power hitters of the 1990s and early 2000s, hitting at least 20 home runs in every season from 1991 to 2004.

Palmeiro does plenty of things right in his swing. In this particular swing, we’re going to highlight his extension. He doesn’t let his hands wrap the bat around his body; instead, he extends his arms out toward center field, keeping his barrel in the zone longer.

Palmeiro was likely a little early with his timing on this swing, but his ability to extend effectively still allowed him to make solid contact.

Another thing to highlight is how still Palmeiro’s head remains throughout the swing. He keeps his eyes on the ball, tracking the pitch all the way through contact.

However, likely due to the slightly off timing, Palmeiro lets his hands get out in front of his turn instead of having them trail behind in this swing. When the hands stay behind the turn, more power is generated in the swing. Considering Palmeiro’s power numbers, this was likely not something he did consistently, but in this instance, we can see that he came out of the turn sequence a little early.

Career Stats:
•    Batting Average: .288
•    Hits: 3,020
•    Home Runs: 569
•    Runs Batted In (RBI): 1,835
•    On-Base Percentage: .371
•    Slugging Percentage: .515
•    OPS: .885

Accolades:
•    4× All-Star (1988, 1991, 1998, 1999)
•    3× Gold Glove Award (1997–1999)
•    2× Silver Slugger Award (1998, 1999) ...

Todd Helton was one of the most consistently productive first basemen of the 2000s and certainly one of the Colorado Rockies’ best players in franchise history.

He had a very quick and compact swing, keeping both arms bent at a 90-degree angle through contact. His strong contact position—hips and shoulders through, with hands held back and elbows bent—helped him drive the ball hard in the air. Playing in Colorado, hitting the ball hard in the air often resulted in more extra-base hits than outs due to the thin air.

One issue with Helton’s swing here is that on this swing he actually doesn’t extend his arms. This is likely due to him being right on time with this swing and didn’t really need to extend to hit effectively here. In this swing he wrapped his hands around his body very quickly at the end of his swing. If he extended more, he would keep his barrel in the zone longer and increase his window for making contact.

Obviously, it wasn’t a problem for him on this swing, but it could cause issues for younger hitters who are struggling with their timing.

Career MLB Stats
•    Batting Average: .316
•    Hits: 2,519
•    Home Runs: 369
•    RBIs: 1,406
•    On-Base Percentage (OBP): .414
•    Slugging Percentage (SLG): .539
•    OPS: .953

Accolades
•    5× All-Star (2000–2004)
•    4× Silver Slugger Award (2000–2003)
•    3× Gold Glove Award (2001, 2002, 2004)
•    NL Batting Champion (2000 — .372 average)
•    Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024 ...

Today we’re looking at Gary Sheffield.

Gary Sheffield was the elite bat speed guy before we even knew how to measure bat speed at all.

He created so much whip with his barrel that it seemed like any ball he hit on the sweet spot had a chance to go 400 feet.

The swing we selected to use today isn’t necessarily a perfect representation of Sheffield’s entire career. However, this one is especially fun because it’s wild and hyper-athletic. That said, one nit to pick with the swing is that his head gets pretty far forward. Generally speaking, I’d like the head to be a little further back so we can see the path of the pitch a little better.

That said, his signature barrel tip is something that’s often misunderstood. A barrel tip is often thought of as a risk/reward power move that “selfish,” swing-and-miss-heavy players use.
Does it often increase power? Yes.
Does it sometimes create more swing and miss? It certainly can—when there’s a lack of understanding about what a barrel tip is and how to properly use it.

What a barrel tip actually does is help create tension at the right time so a hitter can sequence properly. A simple way to think of it: things that are stretched want to contract, and things that are contracted want to stretch. Many times, athletes get very rigid with their upper body, making it impossible to create proper stretch. A barrel tip allows stretch to happen functionally, which lets the rest of the body work the way it should.

Some people—myself included—struggle to create a good sequence when there’s a lot of pitch pressure. However, if I barrel tip, it becomes much easier to create a functional sequence, no matter how fast the pitch.
Gary Sheffield was a master of this.

Gary Sheffield Career Stats:
• MLB Seasons: 22 (1988–2009)
• Career Batting Average: .292
• Home Runs: 509
• RBIs: 1,676
• Hits: 2,689
• On-Base Percentage (OBP): .393
• Slugging Percentage (SLG): .514
• OPS: .907
• Stolen Bases: 253
• All-Star Appearances: 9
• Silver Slugger Awards: 5
• Teams: Brewers, Padres, Marlins, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, Tigers, Mets ...

Are you struggling at the plate right now? Even after it feels like you’ve changed your swing 100 times to match what your coach wants?

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Here are four easy ways to tell if your hitting coach is doing more harm than good. ...

Today we’re looking at Ryan Howard.

Howard was an absolute beast for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2000s. That lineup with him and Chase Utley was scary.

For a bigger guy, he always moved really well. In particular, the way he rotates is really high-level. Take a look at how long he’s able to keep his chest pointing toward the camera as his pelvis rotates. This dude created a ton of stretch across his core—and then he deletes that stretch really quickly.

He also always did a great job of tilting his shoulders downward to low pitches. When I first started getting into this stuff, I had a picture of him on my phone side-bending to a pitch at the very bottom of the zone. I used it as an example when I was trying to teach kids that it actually was OK to drop their back shoulder.

The one thing I wish he did a little bit differently is his “dip your toe in the water” loading pattern. Some guys do it really successfully—obviously he’s one of them—but usually, hitters who use this pattern struggle to adjust once they begin their swing, especially as pitchers start mixing speeds. This could be one reason Howard struck out more than he should have.

Career Stats:
Ryan Howard played 13 MLB seasons (2004–2016), all with the Philadelphia Phillies. He hit 382 home runs, drove in 1,194 RBIs, and posted a career .258 batting average with an .859 OPS. He was the 2006 NL MVP, a 3-time All-Star, and helped lead the Phillies to a World Series title in 2008. ...

Ernie Banks was one of the most underrated players of the 1950s and 1960s, largely because he spent his entire career with the Chicago Cubs. “Mr. Cub” was an excellent defensive shortstop in the early part of his career before being moved to the corner infield after he turned 30.

His bat, however, is what truly stands out. There’s a reason he played 19 seasons in the MLB, he could hit. In his swing, you can see the importance of moving forward and rotating fully through the end of the swing.

Ernie starts with his feet close together, then drifts toward the pitcher. He then is able to drive the bat through the zone with great speed and power.

During that era, swing mechanics were not as well understood as they are today. Even then players understood the need to move forward and rotate to hit the ball with force.

One thing that could probably be improved is how far forward his head moves during his turn. Ideally, hitters should keep their head back while they’re rotating. this helps them see the ball better when they’re hitting. It also helps them drive the ball over the infield.

Ernie didn’t need to follow those any “swing rules” he just hit. There’s no need to fix it if things are working great. Only make changes when something is actually causing problems.

Career Stats
•    Batting Average: .274
•    Hits: 2,583
•    Home Runs: 512
•    RBIs: 1,636
•     Runs Scored: 1,305
•    Slugging Percentage: .500

Career Achievements
•    Hall of Fame Induction: 1977
•    2× National League MVP: 1958, 1959
•    14× All-Star: (1955–1962, 1965, 1967, 1969)
•    Gold Glove Award (Shortstop): 1960
•    NL Home Run Leader: 1958, 1960
•    NL RBI Leader: 1958, 1959
•    MLB All-Century Team
•    Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient: 2013 ...

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Regardless of what’s going on.

Maybe you’re not getting the playing time that you’d like. Maybe you got cut from your team.

if you have dreams, and you’re working towards them, just focus on you.

Start building the athlete that you are trying to become now. ...

Fred McGriff was one of the premier hitting first basemen of the early 1990s and enjoyed a long 19 year career in the MLB. He excelled at getting on base and hitting bombs.

He loaded his hands straight back and created a lot of stretch to swing his bat through the zone with as much speed as possible.

Loading your hands back in a way that locks out the front arm isn’t something we would recommend teaching to hitters, as it makes hitting higher pitches much more difficult.

McGriff’s swing is something that might not have be as effective in today’s game, but in the ’90s, the high fastball wasn’t something pitchers often threw, so McGriff didn’t need to worry too much about that.

With that said, his ability to keep his turn ahead of his hands is something all hitters can learn from. It helped him become one of the best power hitters of his era, while his discipline helped him reach base when pitchers were trying to avoid him.

Career Statistics
•    Batting Average: .284
•    Hits: 2,490
•    Home Runs: 493
•    Runs Batted In (RBI): 1,550
• On-Base Percentage (OBP): .377
• Slugging Percentage (SLG): .509

Accolades
•    Hall of Fame Induction: 2023
•    World Series Champion: 1995 (Atlanta Braves)
•    5× All-Star: 1992, 1994–1996, 2000
•    3× Silver Slugger Award: 1989, 1992, 1993
•    2× Home Run Leader: 1989 (AL), 1992 (NL) ...

Larry Walker had a batting average over .300 in 9 of his 17 MLB seasons. One reason for this is how long he was able to keep his barrel in the zone throughout his swing. It enters the zone extremely deep and stays in the hitting zone well past his front foot.

Many hitters will turn fast but won’t keep their barrel in the hitting zone long enough to hit consistently. They may hit the ball hard when they do connect, but poor timing can make consistent contact difficult.

Walker avoids this by keeping his hands back while he turns, creating a deep entry point into the hitting zone for the barrel. He then continues to hold the plane he has created through the extension of his swing, lengthening the barrel’s time in the hitting zone.

Being able to hit a ball when a hitter is a little late or early is what can take someone from being an inconsistent power hitter to a consistent, gap-to-gap hitter.

Career Stats:
• Career Batting Average: .313
• Home Runs: 383
• RBIs: 1,311
• Hits: 2,160
• Runs: 1,355
• Stolen Bases: 230
• OPS: .965

Achievements:
• National League MVP: 1997 (with Colorado Rockies)
• 7× Gold Glove Award: 1992–1994, 1997–1999, 2001
• 3× Silver Slugger Award: 1992, 1997, 1999
• 5× All-Star: 1992, 1997–1999, 2001
• 3× National League Batting Champion: 1998 (.363), 1999 (.379), 2001 (.350)
• Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: 2020 ...

Bryce Harper has one of the most explosive swings the sport of baseball has ever seen. The speed at which he can turn his body and get his bat through the zone has been an elite trait of his since he was 16 and has continued to impress throughout his 13-year (and counting) MLB career.

A major reason for his excellence is how well he keeps his hands behind his turn, allowing his hips to initiate the movement while his core carries the swing with as much velocity as he can generate. “Torque” was a term used to describe Bryce while he was coming up through the Nationals’ system as a teenager. It’s an apt word for what he creates in his swing. The tension generated and then released by the separation of his hips and hands definitely produces a lot of torque, powering his historically strong swing.

Young players can learn a lot from Bryce’s swing, especially his turn sequence. His hands stay by the back shoulder until his hips are nearly fully rotated toward the pitcher, creating maximum stretch. His core then whips his hands and bat through the zone as fast as possible. He’s also able to maintain a steady bat path, with his top hand staying palm-up through extension.

Obviously, not everyone can swing like Bryce Harper, but there are valuable elements of his swing that players can implement to benefit their own approach.

Career Accolades
    • 2× National League Most Valuable Player (MVP): 2015, 2021
    • 8× MLB All-Star: 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024
    • National League Rookie of the Year: 2012
    • 4× Silver Slugger Award: 2015, 2021, 2023, 2024

Career Statistics
    • Batting Average: .281
    • Hits: 1,683
    • Home Runs: 338
    • Runs Batted In (RBIs): 981
    • Runs Scored: 1,090 ...

@masonduval going opposite 🌮 you love to see it! Mason is an Ignite OG. Keep doing your thing my man! ...

Today we’re looking at Crystl Bustos.

She was an unbelievable hitter.

You really couldn’t draw up a swing that would be much better for her.
• Great control of her forward move. ✅
• Head stays on the ball. ✅
• Turns her pelvis without moving her chest. ✅
• Bat path? Money. 💰

Crystl Bustos Career Highlights:
• 2× Olympic Gold Medalist (2000, 2004)
• Olympic Silver Medalist (2008)
• Hit 6 home runs in the 2008 Olympics, setting a tournament record
• USA Softball National Team Member from 1999–2008
• Known for one of the most powerful swings in softball history
• Inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame (2012) ...

Today we’re looking at Ichiro.

What an incredible Major League career—one of the greatest contact hitters of all time.

I’m fascinated by Ichiro’s conscious decision to be a contact hitter. Yes, he clearly made a choice to prioritize contact over power. I’ve included some video of him here from what I believe was his high school days, where he appeared much more focused on hitting for power than he ultimately was as a Major League player.

What really sticks out to me about his swing is his forward move. He was unbelievably consistent in making sure that movement happened the exact same way every time. That, combined with his elite visual skills, is why he was so incredibly consistent at putting the bat on the ball year after year.

What do you notice as the difference between his swing in high school and his swing with the Mariners?

For me, the big thing is how much more rotation he used in his younger years.

You don’t need rotation to be a functional hitter, but you do need rotation to be a powerful one. And when Ichiro chose to rotate—he absolutely could. He just usually chose not to.

What a fascinating career. What a fascinating guy.

Ichiro Suzuki – Career Stats & Accolades
• MLB Career: 2001–2019 (Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, Miami Marlins)
• Batting Average: .311
• Hits: 3,089 (MLB) + 1,278 (NPB in Japan) = 4,367 total professional hits
• Home Runs: 117
• RBIs: 780
• Stolen Bases: 509
• Runs: 1,420
• Gold Gloves: 10×
• All-Star Appearances: 10×
• AL MVP & Rookie of the Year: 2001
• Silver Slugger Awards: 3×
• 7× MLB Hits Leader
• MLB Record for Most Hits in a Season: 262 (2004) ...

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Today we’re looking at Edgar Martinez’s swing.

Honestly, it’s a thing of beauty.

His forward move looks great.
His separation between his pelvis and rib cage looks great.
The angles he creates look great.
His upper-body pattern is flat-out excellent in every single video you can find of him.

It does look like he maybe could’ve been a little more aggressive with his thoracic spine. I’d be really interested to see what his swing would look like if motion capture technology had existed back when he played.

But the thing that’s most noteworthy about Edgar Martinez isn’t just the swing—it’s his vision story.

As a child, he had several visual deficiencies. Someone please correct me if I’m off on the specifics, but he had to work incredibly hard to improve his visual skills during childhood. Famously, he used a machine that shot tennis balls with numbers written on them—and he trained himself to read the numbers, even when the balls were traveling upwards of 150 mph.

(For the record, I’m confident those tennis balls weren’t spinning—because I don’t know how you’d even do that and still read a number.)

His path to playing at such an elite level is one that young athletes should really take note of.

Our ability to follow a moving object with our eyes and accurately track its location is far and away the most important skill in hitting—and it’s something Martinez had to build from the ground up.

Edgar Martinez – Career Stats & Accolades
• MLB Career: 1987–2004 (Seattle Mariners)
• Batting Average: .312
• Hits: 2,247
• Home Runs: 309
• RBIs: 1,261
• Doubles: 514
• On-Base Percentage: .418
• OPS: .933
• 7× All-Star
• 5× Silver Slugger
• 2× AL Batting Champion (1992, 1995)
• AL RBI Leader: 2000
• Hall of Fame Induction: 2019
• Designated Hitter Award renamed the “Edgar Martinez Award”

One of the greatest right-handed hitters of his generation—and one of the best pure hitters ever. ...

Today we’re looking at Joey Votto’s swing.

How can a hitting nerd not like Joey Votto’s swing? I’m not sure!

He has a slow and controlled forward move, and he’s somehow able to create a pretty vertical bat angle—almost regardless of where the pitch is in the zone. It’s actually pretty remarkable.

I read a few years ago that he had one of the lowest infield fly ball rates ever. Yup, that’s a weird stat—but I think it illustrates just how well he manages his bat angle.

Infield fly balls usually occur when the barrel comes through the zone horizontally and the hitter clips under the ball. That horizontal barrel sends the ball straight up for an easy catch by an infielder.

But when someone with a steeper vertical bat angle misses under the ball, what they usually produce is a foul ball out of play.

That matters because:
• A foul ball out of play = one strike
• An infield fly = one out

Big difference.

Am I saying everybody needs a steep, vertical bat angle? No. Frankly, until hitters are regularly facing pitchers who can spin high-velocity four-seamers, I don’t think it matters that much.

However, we can’t ignore the number of big leaguers who have totally transformed their careers by learning to get the barrel underneath their hands when they swing.

Justin Turner and J.D. Martinez are the two poster boys for that.

Joey Votto – Career Stats & Accolades (as of 2023)
• MLB Career: 2007–2023 (Cincinnati Reds)
• Batting Average: .294
• Home Runs: 356
• RBIs: 1,144
• Hits: 2,135
• On-Base Percentage (OBP): .409
• Slugging Percentage: .511
• OPS: .920
• Walks: 1,365
• Strikeouts: 1,377
• All-Star Appearances: 6×
• NL MVP: 2010
• Gold Glove: 2011
• OBP Leader: 7×
• Known For: Exceptional plate discipline, elite bat control, and one of the most cerebral approaches to hitting in MLB history ...

Today we’re looking at Tony Gwynn.

Manny would call him the best contact hitter of all time. Other notable names in this category include Ty Cobb, Ichiro Suzuki, and maybe Wade Boggs, who we just covered yesterday.

The thing you’ll always notice about excellent contact hitters is how consistent they are with their forward move. You never see them go backward with their pelvis.

Gwynn also had legendary visual skills—insanely low strikeout numbers and absurdly high batting averages year after year.

While his ability to hit for an extremely high average is remarkable, I wouldn’t recommend young players try to emulate his strategy—or even many things about his swing.

Almost no one in today’s MLB is organizing their swing around having the highest possible batting average. Why? Because we now know that a metric like OPS is a much better predictor of scoring runs—which is ultimately how you win baseball games.

As for his swing: everything with Gwynn always looks amazing right up to the point where his body should grab the barrel. But instead, Gwynn throws his hands directly at the baseball, rather than letting his body pull the barrel into the zone.

If your goal is to optimize your batting average and make as much contact as possible, Gwynn’s approach is probably the right one.

However, collegiate and pro baseball simply don’t value those skills the way they once did. That said, I’m confident that if Tony Gwynn played today, he would have focused more on power—and likely still would’ve been an elite MLB player.

Obviously, he was an amazing MLB player. But if you were to take Tony Gwynn’s stat profile and plug it into a modern fantasy baseball formula, he wouldn’t be nearly as valuable as many other modern big leaguers.

That said, with his incredible visual skills and bat control, I have no doubt that a commitment to more damage would have made him dangerous in any era. ...

Today we’re looking at Wade Boggs — a legendary contact hitter.
Take a look at his forward move — it might be one of the best I’ve ever seen. There’s no sway. He moves forward slowly, under control, and his head stays back the entire time. If you want to make good swing decisions, this — aside from vision — is probably the most important thing you can do.

But every time I study hitters like Boggs or Tony Gwynn, I can’t help but wonder:
What would their careers have looked like if they had decided to swing a little harder?
What if they had gotten into better upper body positions — maybe even tried to do more damage?

A lot of these guys were making a conscious choice about what type of hitter they wanted to be. That kind of decision-making is less common now — mostly because we better understand how runs are scored and how games are won.

When I look at Boggs specifically, the thing I think he could have improved from a power production standpoint is his ability to get into a deeper scap load — and hold that during the early part of his turn. Would that have meant more home runs? A higher slugging percentage? I’m not sure — but it’s fun to speculate.

One thing’s for sure: he had an incredible career and did a lot of things right.

Wade Boggs Career Stats:
• Career Batting Average: .328
• On-Base Percentage: .415
• Slugging Percentage: .443
• OPS: .858
• Hits: 3,010
• Home Runs: 118
• Doubles: 578
• RBI: 1,014
• Gold Gloves: 2
• All-Star Appearances: 12
• Hall of Fame Inductee: 2005
# ...

Keegan Mahoney out here hitting some backside home runs! You love to see it! ...