Case Study 2: Josh Horton, Oakland A’s Minor Leaguer

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Case Study:  Josh Horton

Josh Horton, AAA player for the Oakland Athletics, walked into I.T.S. Baseball on October 4^th of 2011.  Josh played at the local high school where he was an All American, then headed to UNC Chapel Hill where he was also an All American and even won the ACC batting title.  Josh came in looking for a place to hit in the off season, perhaps someone to throw him some batting practice, and was genuinely happy to see that a baseball facility had opened so close to his house and in his hometown.

I told Josh I’d like to take a look at his swing on video and let him know what I thought and we’d go from there.  I was excited to work with Josh, an excellent player, and to learn from him and what he’d learned during his very successful career to this point.

BEFORE: This is Josh’s first day video:

After uploading this footage, and checking it out, I asked Josh what he was trying to do with his swing and what his goals in baseball were. As you can see, Josh had a hands first out in front approach to hitting.  I showed him the different way that we look at hitting and why we think what we do.  I showed him My case study of Robinson Cano, a middle infielder just like Josh, who hits left-handed as well.  Josh was amazed at the difference between his swing and Cano’s.  As you can see, Cano’s swing was much different from Josh’s October 4^th swing.

Josh and I put extensive work into his swing.  For the first time in his career, Josh studied video of himself.  He saw the difference and we set out to make some swing changes.  Josh was skeptical at first of some of the things I asked him to do, but each time he made the changes that we talked about, he hit the ball harder.

By using many of the same ideas we’ve talked about here on the blog like staying back, keeping the eyes behind the ball, hands deep, accelerating the barrel instead of the hands, and getting on plane with the pitch,

AFTER: Josh’s swing now looks like this:

Josh told me he’d like to hit for more power, more homeruns and doubles.  Instead, what I.T.S. Baseball has given Josh is the chance to have more time to see the baseball, a faster swing, a deeper contact point and, last but not least, significantly more power.  Josh’s swing works totally differently in the cage, the real test will be his results this year for the A’s.  I’m excited for him and he’s excited as well.

Working with Josh has been one of the best experiences of my career.  We will continue to work together in the future.  Josh was interested in and dedicated to his craft and, as you can see, has drastically improved his swing.  Josh has the knowledge and the tools to continue this process and hold onto his newfound swing.  Josh has recently relocated to Los Angeles to train with other professional players to get ready for spring training.  Josh and I will continue our work online and via telephone.

Here’s what Josh had to say about his time with I.T.S. Baseball and Chas Pippitt:

“I’m certain in the last two months, using the I.T.S. Baseball philosophy and program, I’ve improved immensely.  I’m looking forward to working intimately with Chas in the future, and trying to create more bat speed, and more consistent hard contact.”  Josh Horton, Infield Oakland A’s AAA afiliate

Good luck Josh from all of us at I.T.S. Baseball and the Baseball Hitting Rebellion.  We will post updates on Josh in the rest of the offseason and into his games this year.

Chas Pippitt, Leader of the Baseball Hitting Rebellion.

7 Responses to “Case Study 2: Josh Horton, Oakland A’s Minor Leaguer”

1. Mike says:

   January 4, 2012 at 2:54 pm

   Wow, what a difference. This change could give Josh a chance to be a premier player, at least maybe stick in the bigs. 2B with power are a premium.

   Thru five minor league season’s he is hitting .274 with 14 HR (.357 slg%) and .710 OPS. If he can raise any of these numbers it should turn some heads.

   This will be interesting to watch develop. Wish him the best and pray he stays healthy, too.

   Reply
   • Chas Pippitt says:

     January 5, 2012 at 10:27 am

     Glad you think so Mike, he worked very hard for that change.

     We’ll post more video as we update his progress in the future.

     Chas –

     Reply
2. Randy says:

   January 5, 2012 at 6:39 pm

   The new swing is beautiful. I’ve watched that clip at least 20 times. I didn’t know he’s been playing minors for 5 years. It blows my mind that these organizations invest so much time and money into these kids and yet they don’t teach them how to swing a bat. I think he is always going to remember the day he walked through your doors. Great work Chas.

   Reply
3. Wayne says:

   January 18, 2012 at 6:28 pm

   Hi Chas,

   I just found your site and wanted to let you know I love it. I think I am much like yourself in that I have been studying the baseball swing for quite a few years now and I try to learn something new every day. I just wanted to comment on the Josh Horton swing above. I feel like Josh is very close to “spinning” in this particular swing video. If you look at his back foot in relation to the Tanner Tee in the foreground you will see that it looks like his backside never really releases. I believe it is extremely important to be at least 50/50 at toe touch (actually I think it is even better if the weight is a little forward of 50/50) In my experience it creates more power and makes for a more accurate barrel. I believe this kind of acts as a “counterbalance” for the “lean back” that is about to follow. If you don’t get this right you could end up collapsing on the backside and spinning. I know this one swing is a small sample size and probably isn’t indicative of all of his swings. Just thought I would put that out there for discussion.

   Reply
   • Chas Pippitt says:

     January 27, 2012 at 3:18 pm

     Wayne,

     Interesting point. I don’t totally disagree with you, but I’m not sure I really agree either.

     His weight could shift forward a little more before he really goes into the swing motion, but remember, Napoli swings very similar to that meaning he lays down on that back foot and then turns from his middle very well with little wasted movement.

     Josh, as you can see from his ‘before’ video, was quite the back leg pusher and knob puller, so to go from where he was to where he is in this video was based on teaching him to ‘lay down’ on his back foot and turn from his middle. He has little wasted motion, and while increasing power was a main reason we made the changes, we want him, and all of our hitters, very comfortable in their movements. Rome was not built in a day!

     Josh is riding his back leg forward more at this point than in the video above, but even if he simply loads and lays down his barrel is in a much better place than it ever was before. Josh told me the other day that he’s hitting balls farther and harder than he ever has before, and honestly, next off season is when we’ll make the remaining improvements.

     Thanks for the your input though. Please keep it up.

     Chas–

     Reply
4. greg says:

   January 24, 2012 at 9:04 am

   What are you working on to accelerate the barrel of the bat? Have you already explained this?

   thanks.

   Reply
   • Chas Pippitt says:

     January 27, 2012 at 11:23 am

     Greg,

     Simply put, we are working on using the hips and wrists in conjunction with the ‘row’ to make the bat go faster sooner.

     The Drive Developer and The Rack are helpful in engaging the proper muscles and most of our online and in person kids use the DD. The Rack is just starting out and being tested.

     Chas–

     Reply