This weekend, Kris Bryant got the vast majority of the Cubs homer-related attention, and rightfully so – the guy is homering better than once every four times he comes to the plate this Spring. It’s just crazy.
But, there were a couple other homers I want to look at, because they are each awesome for their own reasons.
First, thanks to BN’er Ryan, we’ve got video of Addison Russell going deep off of Felix Hernandez on Saturday:
It’s fun to see Russell’s swing from that angle, and, not being a scout, I can’t articulate in technical terms why I find it so interesting. Whether from front or back or side, Russell’s swing has always struck me as short and quick, and with a very good angle through the zone. Not unlike Kris Bryant, it doesn’t seem like there’s much wasted energy in Russell’s swing.
At just 21, you can easily see how Russell could fill out just a little more (but not so much that he can’t play short), and add even more playable pop. In the early days of his time in the organization, I really underestimated his power potential.
And then there’s Arismendy Alcantara, who went deep yesterday against Jose Valverde (who did not dance after the homer):
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I like seeing Alcantara go the other way with that one. As you can see from his spray charts, Alcantara’s power has been exclusively to his pull side – which, to be fair, is not surprising for a smaller guy. And, no, that ball probably isn’t a homer in April at Wrigley, but being about to go the other way with power would be a significant addition to Alcantara’s already impressive game. The ball just pops off of his bat, thanks to the strong hands and wrists.