How Gordon Beckham lost his groove

Eisenberg @ THT:

Heading into the All-Star break, Beckham’s OPS placed him close to the bottom in the American League in slugging percentage. Now, I have to point out that Beckham has come back from the break on fire and, in looking at some very recent video of him, he seems to have fixed the mechanical problems that plagued his swing in the first half of the season.

While I may follow up with an article on the adjustments Beckham has made to get his old swing back, this article will focus on what went awry with his swing for much of this season. Below we see him from the center field camera angle. The clips below are in their entirety and are both synchronized to the pitcher’s release of the ball and to the point of contact. On the left is Beckham in 2009 on an 81 mph pitch, while on the right you see Beckham in 2010 on an 80 mph pitch. …