This is why K-Long is the best in the business. Tune in tomorrow when he fixes Scott Kingery by telling him to “swing at balls in the strike zone.”

I want to know who coached Mickey Moniak in Little League. I thought it was a universal rule you couldn’t get set in the batters box until you tapped the outer corner of the plate with your bat. Is that not still the international sign for  “I can hit anything“?

This is how Kevin Long fixed him, from Scott Lauber at The Philadelphia Inquirer:

On the first day of spring training, new Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long introduced himself to Mickey Moniak with a pointed question.

“Is there a fear of being closer [to the plate]?” Long asked.

“No,” Moniak said. “Not at all.”

That was everything Long needed to hear. Because he believed he had already seen what may turn Moniak into a better hitter. Long figured a change in the direction of Moniak’s stride could spur more rotation with his hips. But it was all predicated on shuffling his feet in the left-handed batter’s box and moving him closer to the plate.

“I looked at his swing and I thought, ‘Man, this guy’s doing himself an injustice,’” Long said. “For the mechanics and the swing that I saw, I go, ‘If he could just get closer to the plate, get his stride direction in line,’ I said, ‘I don’t see any reason why he’s not going to be really, really good and special.’ So it was kind of easy.”

Kids, do you want to go 1/1 in the MLB Draft? Get closer to the plate and get a diary:

Thursday, April 7th, 2022


Dear Diary,

Today, I mashed another dinger. 

-Mickey

Someone remix Billy Joel’s “Moving Out” so every time Moniak goes yard we can tweet a video of it out with the “Moni-ak -ak -ak -ak” part:

It will get plenty of use:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1511751812939984902?s=20&t=Kp3cg8MbkUob8UAuMFLbVw