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Chase Utley's Slump
by Scott Butler 6/19/08
Have you ever noticed Chase Utley's routine during an at bat? Chase has the same routine pretty much every plate appearance. First, he always grabs his batting helmet, then he rocks back and forth and right before swinging he drops his bat towards his shoulder. I noticed that when he misses that last step he almost always has a tough day.
At first I thought it meant he had trouble timing a pitcher but he hasn't dropped the bat in all of his at bats against the Boston Red Sox and had zero hits. Maybe it is because he hasn't seen these pitchers or maybe his timing is off, but it is no coincidence that his hitting woes correlate to that last step he misses.
Maybe I am on to something and maybe not, but it seems to be a fail safe predictor of a long day at the plate for Chase. Let's hope we don't see it much longer!
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