Mookie Betts hasn’t had the kind of year we’re used to from him, setting career low marks in wRC+ (104), wOBA (.318), & SLG (.406). He might be on the back half of his HOF career, but I believe he can recapture some of what's made him so good at the plate with a few tweaks. 🧵

They're two different hitters with different strategies, but ultimately two very good ones. And they're going to be a lot of fun to watch going forward as they continue to grow and develop in the box.

Wood & Greene both did enough well this past year to offset some of the miss in their game. Chipping away at it will require some time (Wood 23, Greene 25 yrs old), exposure, and slightly different strategies without completely changing who they are as a hitter.

Greene was much more aggressive this past year, swinging 7.3% more IZ & 10.9% more 0-0. His IZ contact, however, fell from 80.6% in 2024 to 76.2% in 2025. He got more shots off, but couldn't capitalize on those shots because he missed more.

Chase might be an issue, but I think Greene would benefit more by cleaning up his performance against velo. This past year, he produced a -2 RV against both FB/SI - pitches he’s getting 51%. Last year, for reference, Greene was +8 RV against FB. Wood this past year was +10.

Wood can lean into his above average contact quality metrics and take some more shots, keep more stuff off the ground, and get more in the air to the pull side. He’ll always likely be more passive. But he's too good to take good pitches. Can't punch out if you never get to 2K.

Wood was different in this regard. With a 40 degree swing tilt & 11 degree AA, he covered up and away pretty well. What he struggled with was keeping the ball off the ground (49.7% GB) and pulling it in the air (11.3%). Greene, for reference, pulled the ball in the air 18.6%.

Wood and Greene both have a vertical path bias. Greene lead MLB in swing path tilt (45 degrees) & had an above average swing attack angle (14 degrees). This helped him crush middle down/in, but hurt his ability to flatten out the bat and cover up/away.

Greene, on the other hand, gets plenty of shots off (52.6% swing, 85.7% meatball swing, 0-0 FB swing 43.9%). This would suggest his higher chase might be his biggest issue. But he only whiffs 48.2% OZ (Wood for reference whiffs OZ 56.1%). His miss IZ hurts him more.

Wood’s passive approach is getting him into worse counts more often. 62.5% of his ABs get to 2K. Wood might have some miss that influences his K%, but he's better off hedging his miss by getting some more shots off pre 2K. He's too passive where he should be more aggressive.

Wood didn’t chase a ton, but he didn’t pull the trigger as often as he should have. Wood only swung at pitches dead middle 66.1% of the time. These are the same pitches he slugs .747 against. 0-0 he only swung 25.5% on FB, pitches he got 56.5% of the time (71.3% hard hit).

Wood & Greene both had higher overall miss (Wood 32.9%, Greene 30.9%) and similar IZ miss (Wood 23.1%, Greene 23.8%). Wood was more passive, only chasing 24.2%. This helped him walk at an above average clip (12.3%). Greene was more aggressive, chasing 31.2% & only walking 7%.

James Wood (32.1%) and Riley Greene (30.7%) both were T5 in the MLB in K% this past year. But how they punched out varied, giving us better insight into the layers behind swing decisions. Not all K% is created equal. 🧵

Find and prioritize what needs to happen. Coach it relentlessly. Let all the details fall into place. Whether you're building better hitters, better rockets, or a better offense - the same line of thinking applies.

Finding the most essential elements in the swing requires a separation of substance & style. There's a lot really good hitters do differently, but there are things they all do pretty similarly. Those few things are where the majority of your time & energy should be spent.

Part III: Rotation How the body & barrel work to deliver the barrel is the most complicated, yet most important part of the swing. Every batted ball tells a story, but not all the content in the story should be weighted equally. https://t.co/0GFYObAeJa

Part II: Creating Leverage Where you work from is where you feel strong. If it's where you feel strong, it's where you feel like you can create some leverage. Everyone has their own unique way to create a mechanical advantage in the box. https://t.co/O0UmlN5mUv

Part I: Overcoming Inertia If we rotate from the middle of our body out, how we get the middle moving in the early stages of the swing matters. It's not just a stride. It's your strategy to build the capacity for bat speed downstream. https://t.co/531zoMp7vu

Elon Musk deployed first principles thinking to find the most essential elements he needed to build a rocket. Below is my attempt to use it to find the most essential elements in the swing. First Principles Thinking: Building Better Hitters: Parts I-III. https://t.co/OrMfGqm8q0

Really enjoyed this video exploring the question of "If passing is better than running, why do teams run so much?" Let's talk about game theory!!! https://t.co/nHcMPkaL4a

Really cool interview. Find where you want to grow, bang the door down, work every day as if your career depended on it. And if you do, people will notice.