Doc Jeff, lead with the knob? Just watch a replay of Mr. Cabrera pulling that inside pitch in the All Star first inning tonight. Jeff (have to love the name right!) Sullivan’s excellent article stated that Byrd was “was taught to lead with his right elbow. He said the subtle adjustment creates ‘bat lag’ and ‘snap.’ The tweak created more lift in his swing plane and a longer period of extension in the hitting zone.” Moe would tell us that this sounds like he was peeking at the Golfing Machine! Load and lag. That is where the power in a golf swing/baseball swing (principles of physics overlapping) comes from. Angles created leverage. Leverage creates power. That is what a lot of the fence or screen work Cano had Smoak doing during Spring Training hopes to accomplish…and when he was hitting with authority as you know. I believe there is a huge difference between pulling the short swing through a longer hitting area versus the long sweeping swing. Long sweeping swings often look pretty but have K’s written all over it. Keep the angle through the zone….there will be power also.
You mentioned Byrd turning on the outside pitch. That was a non-breaking ugly hanger of an off speed. Part of pull the knob through the zone is to also be able to hit later and take line drives to the opp field. Byrd could pull that one. He won’t be pulling Sonny Gray like that. Batters that want to turn on everything also have K written on them, especially in Seattle’s spring swamp air. One quick way to discourage a starter on the mound is to take his best off the plate pitches to that field.