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Holliday swayed into adjusting stance
The wiggle room for improvement in Matt Holliday's batting stance was noticeable.
Holliday would step into the batter's box and begin to waggle both his bat and his hips. The timing of his swing seemed off, as Holliday was fouling off pitches that were begging to be hit. Things started to change when the Colorado Rockies' starting left-fielder took some advice from a pal, first baseman Todd Helton.
"I talked to Todd and he told me that I needed to slow down a little bit, slow down my body a little bit," Holliday said on Sunday ."It makes it easier to see the ball."
Since taking the no-waggle approach, Holliday has hit three home runs and three doubles in the past six games, while raising his batting average 26 points to .281. He doubled in three at-bats during the Rockies’ 5-1 win over the defending National League-champion Houston Astros at Coors Field.
"Sometimes you don't feel it, but then you look at it on tape or whatever," Holliday said. "When you slow down, you can feel the difference. You think about so many things, but you have to try to keep it simple. Todd said, 'Hey, you're going too quick.' That next game in Atlanta (Holliday hit two home runs), I felt pretty good. I felt like I was seeing the ball a lot better."
NOTEWORTHY
Colorado Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville has some work to do in solving the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, who appear mighty fast with a mighty hot goaltender. Anaheim, which comes to Pepsi Center leading the Western Conference semifinals series 2-0, has gone 19-19-7 on the road this season -- including a 2-2 mark during the postseason.
I heard someone call out 'Big bad Sam Adams' when I was at Coors Field on Sunday. The voice was very familiar, but for a brief moment I didn't recognize the man. Turns out it was Denver Broncos center Tom Nalen -- minus the long strands of hair we've been accustomed to seeing over the past few years. Nalen, who attended the Rockies-Astros game with his family, looked like he had enlisted into the military. He said he cut his locks as a birthday present to his wife, but plans to let the hair grow long again.
The Rockies' good start has caught the attention of ESPN, which has adjusted its programming schedule to broadcast Wednesday's game at St. Louis (11 a.m. MT). The crew for the game is expected to be Gary Thorne, Steve Stone and Steve Phillips. Phillips and Rockies manager Clint Hurdle worked together in the New York Mets organization.