Derek Jeter: A Simple Approach to Hitting
Derek Jeter has over 3,600 hits since debuting with the Yankees in 1995. If the all-time great can be taken at his word, virtually every one of them has come via the same, simple approach: See the ball, hit the ball.
It’s hard to believe it’s that simple – surely there are details he didn’t disclose? – but that’s what he told me prior to a recent game in Boston.
When I approached Jeter at his locker – next to the tunnel leading to the dugout, his usual spot in Fenway Park’s cramped visiting clubhouse – he said he was on his way into the trainer’s room, but would try to find time later. Looking up from his chair, he added, “But as far as my hitting approach, I don’t think very much.”
The following day, Jeter found time. He waved me into the dugout, right before stretch and batting practice. “I only have a few minutes,” he warned – his tone almost apologetic – and we sat down to talk hitting.
The first thing I asked was how much he has changed over the years. How different is he today from the player who signed out of Kalamazoo [MI] Central High School in 1992 and reached the big leagues three years later?
“I might be a little more upright, with maybe a little less movement,” Jeter told me. “But the overall hitting mechanics, I think, are pretty much the same. My approach hasn’t changed at all. I don’t like to complicate things. A lot of guys complicate things, but I don’t. I like to keep things as simple as possible.”
I asked the future Hall of Famer if that means looking middle and adjusting, with a see-ball-hit-ball approach.
“Yes, that’s it,” responded Jeter. “I look for the fastball. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to swing at other pitches, but I look fastball. You adjust to off-speed pitches. I don’t think you adjust to a fastball.”
What about video and reports?
“Too much to think about,” responded Jeter. “I can’t hit if I have too much to think about. I don’t think as much as most guys. I just stick with what’s worked. Regardless of who is on the mound, I’m going to be exactly the same with my approach. All I want to know is what the pitcher is throwing – what pitches he has – and his velocity. That’s pretty much it.”
Jeter is 40 years old and in his 20th big-league season. Baseball is a game of constant adjustments, and players commonly make changes as they age. I asked how much tinkering he’s done over the years.
“I tinkered with things when I was 21 years old,” Jeter told me. “I still do now, but there’s never been anything major. I’m not one to change too much, and I’ve never done anything to concede to age.”
After hitting a non-Jeter-esque .270/.340/.370 in 2010, the Yankees legend reportedly made mechanical adjustments early in the following season. They didn’t last. Gary Denbo, who Jeter says knows his swing better than anybody – they began working together when Jeter was 18 years old — convinced him to return to what he’d always done. Unfortunately, I neglected to ask Jeter about this.
I did ask about his approach to breaking out of slumps. Jeter has been remarkably consistent – he’s hit .292 or better 16 times – but he’s also human. How does he get back on track when he does struggle?
“I just keep playing,” answered Jeter. “It’s a game of failure. I don’t care who you are, you’re going to go through stretches where you’re going good and you’re going to go through stretches where you’re going bad. You just keep playing. Repetition. That’s the only thing. Sometimes it’s a comfort thing and sometimes there’s no explanation. There’s no reason – no rhyme or reason – so you just keep playing and sometimes it clicks and sometimes it disappears. When it disappears, you wonder where it goes.”
Jeter’s inside-out stroke is seemingly tailor-made for Yankee Stadium, but what if he’d spent his career with Fenway as his home park? Would he have been the same hitter?
“Yes, you are who you are,” said Jeter. “I don’t change because of the stadium we’re playing in. I grew up thinking that way. You are who you are, and you’re the player that you are. You try to improve the things you do well, but I wouldn’t adjust if I played somewhere else. Like I said, I’ve never been one to change much. I like to keep things as simple as possible.”
David Laurila grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and now writes about baseball from his home in Cambridge, Mass. He authored the Prospectus Q&A series at Baseball Prospectus from December 2006-May 2011 before being claimed off waivers by FanGraphs. He can be followed on Twitter @DavidLaurilaQA.
Anecdotally, having watched his entire career, I don’t have the sense that Yankee Stadium is an advantage for Jeter. Sure he gets some cheap home runs to right, however, he loses homeruns to left. Also, a lot of his balls in play are line drives to right. The smaller outfield ground in Yankee stadium right field might hurt him quite a bit, because he can always be played shallow. Looking at the splits, Jeter doesn’t have massive home bias.
Smaller RF in NY doesn’t seem to hurt him at all. On BBRef they have career splits for “hit location” (all hit balls… not just basehits)… and “Opp Fld-RHB” is his best split (compared to Pulled-RHP and Up Mdle-RHB). Best BA and best SLG%. Most HR/PA.
If a larger RF would help him, you would expect he’d do great in Fenway. And he does relatively poorly there. And he has nearly one full season’s worth of stats at Fenway.
You are probably correct, however the Fenway comparison is quite biased since the Redsox have a long history of above average pitching. You’d want to look at all the big right field parks in aggregate.
He did admit recently (although I don’t remember the source) that the wall in Fenway has sometimes gotten in his head, causing him to adjust away from this strength.
*his strength.
Congrats David, you got Jeter to say more words than he has in any one sitting in 20 years!
i thought it was interesting what he said about the fastball. You set yourself for the fastball and adjust. It makes sense for a player like him in so many ways, especially as he’s aged, and works with (and maybe causes) that inside out swing. He’s been a really interesting player to watch, because he’s boring–he’s very steady, very even, not a lot of variation from game to game. His skills have obviously declined, but they have declined almost the way an older pro golfer does.
I recently found myself wondering if Jeter should be doing his version of The Clinton Tapes–ultra-candid interviews about playing the game that would be published after he retires. Based on this interview, I’m even more convinced. I think, like you said at the outset, he’s holding something back to retain any competitive advantage he can. Great interview nonetheless!
Not to nitpick, but how many hits does Jeter have? Fangraphs and BR say 3429. Let’s not assume he gets more than 4 hits every game from here on in. He can earn his 3500.
Good interview, though.
Counting the postseason — a not insignificant part of his legacy — Jeter has 3,629 hits.
While I agree that it is correct to include those, you should make it explicit imo.
Nice piece. It makes sense that it would be easier to be more consistent with one’s approach at the plate if there was less stance-tinkering and over-analyzing. I’ve been fortunate to watch Jeter’s entire career from his rookie season to now (about a dozen games or so per year). The things that impressed me the most about him are consistency, clutch defense, and health at a demanding position.
At shortstop especially, a guy doesn’t stay healthy for the better part of 20 years without putting in a lot of conditioning work annually in the off-season. I don’t know what he’s done in the off-season, but clearly he put the work in to avoid major injury until that broken ankle. Even Cal Ripken had to switch to 3B at a far earlier point than when Jeter was still making routinely dazzling plays at SS. Amazing how he’s put that many quality innings in at SS over such a long span. His defensive range has obviously deteriorated significantly over the past 3-4 seasons, but he was very, very good at the position for a very long time.
Consistency. What can you say about a guy that scored 100+runs 13 times, over 190 hits 11 times, and hit over .300 12 times? Remarkably consistent. About the only thing he was inconsistent in was his SB totals, which fluctuated somewhat. Seems like he was athletic enough to swipe 50 bags but his SBs would vary from 11 to 34; he stole over 30 SBs four times, and 15 or less, six times. Perhaps this was more a reflection on managerial inconsistencies pertaining to giving him the green light? I dunno. Other than that, yes, Jeter was remarkably consistent in every other area. And yes, he hit at least 1 HR in 11 separate postseasons.
Clutch defense. I don’t know if there is a way to measure this, but there were a number of games in which his range would actually appear to increase in later innings of close games, that I attended. As a Bluejays fan, I was simultaneously disgusted and impressed at how he would take plenty of would-be hits away that were line-drives up the middle or in between third and short, with the game on the line. Some of these same liners and sharp grounders were hits earlier in the same game. I suppose one could argue that he was actually inconsistent in his defensive approach if this were to be true, but I’d prefer to think he focuses sharper and kicks it into another gear over those last couple of innings to close out the game. Purely speculative on my part for sure, but just an observation from games I’ve seen him play in, which were many.
Certainly, his storied career is embellished somewhat by reaching a larger audience as a Yankee, and by seemingly being in every postseason of the past 2 decades, but even if he wasn’t a Yankee, Jeter would rank among the all-time great shortstops based on his long-term consistency, endurance and resulting counting stats.
Hang on, let me get some popcorn before Fangraphs passes its judgment on you for saying something positive about his defense.
Being a Yankee actually hurts Jeter. Great Yankees players that are not All-Time greats simply do not get recognized (e.g. Nettles, Randolph, Munson, Mattingly, Mussina, Pettite, etc.).
Mike Mussina is an All-time great (82.5 WAR over his career). Pettite is pretty close.
As is Jeter for that matter.
Jeter has always been overrated for his defense. He won minor league defensive player of the year in 1993 despite 56 errors in the field, which broke the league record at the time.
56 errors? Yikes! I didn’t know he could get to 56 balls over the course of a season, let alone make that many errors.
Jeter is certainly an all-time great, and will get his recognition. Mussina should be a HOFer in my opinion, though I certainly wouldn’t be shocked if he doesn’t make it. Pettitte too, should get some consideration, but I doubt he lasts more than a round or two before dropping off the ballot. To be voted in as a Yankee you have to be like Jeter or Rivera. Clearly among the greatest ever. Mussina was merely very good for a long time and never won a World Series. As a Yankee, he just doesn’t hit that bar of greatness.
If only everyone else had that same approach. Thats how you hit 300. I once heard on espn that hitters should sit on a splitter instead of being ready for a 98 mph fastball! We know jeter didnt listen to that dumb advice. Hitters today think, guess and strike out too much. See ball, hit ball. Yogi Berra said leave your brain at home. KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid!