Toe Tap: A Game-Changer for the Yankees’ 2024 Season

In 2022, after Josh Donaldson was acquired by the Yankees and started the season on the bench, he would return to his power-first strategy and have a successful comeback season.

That season had a great first half, but similar to the 2022 squad, everything broke down in August. Though there were speculations of a trade involving him and Oswald Peraza for Pablo Lopez, he rebounded with a fantastic season in 2023.

 

With the help of a new toe tap, he would have his most productive season at bat since 2019, hitting 25 home runs and decreasing his strikeout percentage to 14.6%.

After a terrible season at the plate the previous year, Oswaldo Cabrera’s career is currently in flux, and he appears to be turning to the same toe tap in an attempt to solve his issues. This could be DJ LeMahieu’s last opportunity to secure a starting position in the major leagues, as he will begin the season on the injured list.

 

Perhaps Essential to the Yankees’ 2024 Season is Oswaldo Cabrera

Although it is true that the definition of infectious is “likely to be transmitted to people, organisms, etc., through the environment,” the Yankees would use two words instead: Oswaldo Cabrera.

It was especially painful to watch the 25-year-old infielder fail because he always seemed to have a smile on his face and be ready to take on anything the club asked of him.

 

While Anthony Volpe may not have had the season we had hoped for offensively, his glove and quickness still made him a league-average shortstop.

It’s not cruel to say that Oswaldo Cabrera wasn’t an MLB-caliber player last season—the Yankees felt the same way, with a 60 wRC+ and -0.6 fWAR.

Throughout the season, he was repeatedly optioned, only to come back to support a team beset by injuries at the worst possible time.

It took adjustments to restore him to the player he was when he first joined the team because the previous season destroyed his stock.

 

He went from being an exciting young player to someone we frequently consider to be a liability to the caliber of the squad.

The adjustment he’s made? is making the same adjustment that Gleyber Torres did in 2023 to help him become more consistent with his power and contact: switching from a leg kick to a toe tap.

Cabrera used it in two-strike counts at first, but now he uses it constantly and has finished his spring training with a fantastic stretch run.

His average launch angle during the 11-game hot streak is 26.3°, up from 12.1° in the first nine games. This represents a significant improvement in his ability to hit the ball in the air regularly.

Although this is a very small sample set, the largest reduction we observed with Cabrera was in the distribution of his launch angles.

Along with a severe decline in power and productivity, his flyball rate declined, his groundball rate rose, and his overall launch angle dropped by 7.1°. Many pundits have attributed Cabrera’s difficulties to a loft-oriented swing, but it was a more traditional strategy that ultimately proved fatal.

Gleyber Torres first felt the power drop that comes with selling out for contact in 2023 while he was struggling. Before going to the toe tap, there were 413 in the first half. Changing your load frequently involves attempting to enhance your timing—something Cabrera discussed losing sight of in a September essay with The Athletic.

 

When I wrote my article about Oswaldo Cabrera in September of last year, I saw a particular aspect of his difficulties that I felt was indicative of a general lack of communication between Dillon Lawson and the players.

The former hitting instructor refuted Giancarlo Stanton’s statement to the media that the Yankees needed to alter their strategy and reduce their swings. While some may believe the player is correct, that isn’t always the case in this instance.

With their unwavering and efficient approach at the plate, the Yankees have simply outperformed their opponents at the MiLB level, crushing them in the process.

It’s time for Oswaldo Cabrera to return to his former self—a high flyball hitter who could hit home runs and produce run support by routinely getting the ball out to right field.

James Rowson is a player that the Yankees have empowered with the correct coach, and players like Cabrera are ideal for a coach who doesn’t have a predetermined ideology.

The notion that those with a new-school perspective cannot coexist with old-school views, opposing ideas rather than supporting them, has been one of the most damaging features of social media.

 

The expressions “hit the ball in the air” and “strike out less” evoke different schools of thought, and when you hear them, you can automatically conclude that the call was correct or incorrect without considering the player’s profile.

It is the reason for the high strikeout percentage of Anthony Volpe, the way Oswaldo Cabrera wrecks his swing, and the reason for the three new hitting coaches in three seasons.

Most of the time, the coaches aren’t the victims; instead, they’ll find another job and assign blame for their mistakes to others. The athletes that lose out on a lengthy major league career are the victims.

With DJ LeMahieu out for an extended period of time due to a bothersome foot injury, Cabrera will have more opportunities to play in the infield.

He must make the most of this opportunity, as he might not receive another one like it. This is not to suggest that he will start Wally Pipp on the field, but rather that the Yankees will likely suffer another setback and that having Cabrera as insurance might be quite beneficial.

This season, Oswaldo Cabrera doesn’t have quite the same expectations, but maybe last year will serve as a reminder to stick to what makes you great.