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Alex Rodriguez knows a thing or two about playing the infield. Being brought up as a shortstop, he transitioned to playing third base during the 2004 season when he was traded to the New York Yankees.
A-Rod was known for his range on the diamond and his strong arm. He could get to balls some third basemen in the league had no shot at getting to and throwing them out with room to spare.
Lately, the former Yankees slugger has been giving advice and trying to teach the new generation of ballplayers. On Tuesday, he posted an intense drill for infielders that he used to do to get the edge on speedy hitters.
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"I would have Rob Thomson and Mike Borzello. Borzello would have a clock, he would toss the ball to Rob Thomson, and Thomson would hit it, and I would mae sure I'm going 120%, meaning I'm almost chaotic and out of control," said A-Rod.
A-Rod would do this drill, especially with fast runners like Ichiro Suzuki on the opposing team. He would have one coach with a stopwatch and one hitting him groundballs. With Suzuki's time down the line clocked at 3.6, it was his goal to get the ball to first before then.
"Because Ichiro is running, I move up a little bit, and as soon as that ball is hit, Borzello hits that clock, and I come in at full speed... And I do 10 of these at 120%" he added.
If A-Rod could regularly beat that target time, he knew he was ready for the game. He urges infielders to do this if they want to become a Gold Glove Award winner like he was.
Alex Rodriguez advises the correct mindset for aspiring big-league hitters
It is quite the journey to become a professional baseball player. Kids can be pulled in all sorts of directions, and with all the technology around, kids could be chasing numbers. That is something Alex Rodriguez does not want to see continue to trend upward.
"What [the mindset] shouldn't be is chasing, if you're a hitter, launch angle or exit velo or everything max effort. What I want to do as a hitter is be just that, I want to become a hitter" said A-Rod.
The former Texas Rangers slugger does not want to see kids chase numbers. Instead, they should be learning the correct technique and having fun, then those big numbers will come.
