Carson Kelly and Swing Mechanics

[Clem Fandango]

Sharma did a write-up on Carson Kelly's new mechanics, which is very fascinating. Nice to see his improvements aren't just dumb luck and can be attributed to strong mechanical adjustments with numbers to back up what he was aiming to do. There are some visual examples in the article that are good to look at, too.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6321031/2025/04/30/chicago-cubs-carson-kelly-breakout-season-potential/

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“What grinded my gears,” Kelly said, “was I’d get a pitch I could drive and I’d hit it into the ground.”

He was swinging at the right pitches, but too often not doing any damage with them. He had put up a solid 99 wRC+ after a disastrous 2023, but his groundball rate had jumped to 46.3 percent, by far his highest mark since 2018. So he continued to refine his swing.

One major change Kelly made was the weight distribution between his back and front foot. Previously, it was a 50-50 distribution. But now, force plate data tells him he’s more 70-30 weighted toward the back foot.

“I shifted the weight to hold all the energy in the back,” Kelly said. “When I get set, I have a lot of weight in that back leg and I’m trying to stay grounded.”

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Kelly’s fly-ball rate is at 48.6 percent, the highest of his career. His soft-contact rate (8.1 percent) is the lowest it’s ever been and his hard-contact rate (40.5 percent) is the second-highest of his career. Perhaps most importantly for a player trying to tap into more damage, his ability to pull the ball in the air has jumped significantly, now at 24.3 percent, nearly double last season’s mark.

Kelly now feels convicted in his swing and with a nice timeshare at catcher with Miguel Amaya, he’s avoiding getting overworked behind the plate. Kelly can’t be expected to continue at this pace. But health, combined with consistent rest along with a strong approach that’s always existed now with new mechanics that seem to have him in a better position to do damage, there’s optimism that he could put together one of his stronger offensive campaigns.

 

[BigSlick]

Personally, I am enjoying Carson Kelly: Greatest Player in MLB History 

[Stratos]

He definitely has a lot of lift in his swing.  Guys like Kelly, PCA, Tucker prove you don't need crazy power to hit HR, just the right launch angle.

[Bull]

As a lifelong Cubs fan I know we can’t have nice things. I wonder what happens when the league adjusts and how he will be able to react. I hope this a new normal (with obvious significant regression) but I’ve known too many Frank Schwindell’s.