RVH - Francisco Alvarez Swing Mechanics Decomposition — Concept Overview (My First Post)!

 

I go by the RVH handle at this site and have enjoyed the daily interactions over the past couple of years. SI boy, Mets fan over 55 years living in Chicago these days.

This is my initial attempt at a Mack’s Mets posting. I am building off Mack’s last Sunday post where JulesC commented on Francisco Alavarez’s swing mechanics. My goal here is to try to get a better understanding of how hitting lab analytics may be starting to catch up to pitching lab gains and the potential for our Baby Mets. If this content is interesting to the group, I can expand to the other Mets hitters throughout the system.

I have sourced concepts from various places and cobbled together a framework that attempts to decompose hitter swing mechanics. Let me know what you all think!

Swing Mechanics Decomposition — Concept Overview

A player’s swing can be understood through a Force-to-Flow continuum that blends biomechanics, sequencing, and cognitive approach. This framework breaks down how efficiently a hitter generates, transfers, and applies energy — from the ground up — to create power, control, and adaptability.

• Force reflects raw athletic power, torque generation, and intent to drive the ball.
  
  

• Flow represents sequencing efficiency, rhythm, posture control, and adjustability through the swing.
  
  

• Temporal Control measures how long a hitter can delay commitment — the essence of pitch recognition and decision-making.
  
  

• Cognitive Discipline describes approach maturity: how intent, recognition, and plan execution align with mechanics.

By analyzing these dimensions — kinetic sequencing, lower-body engagement, posture stability, hand path, contact plane, and approach intelligence — we can classify hitters along developmental stages:

1. Raw Force: Effort-driven, sequencing underdeveloped.
   
   

2. Emerging Flow: Mechanically improving, timing variable.
   
   

3. Optimized Force: Efficient power through rhythm and structure.
   
   

4. Controlled Flow: Precision through posture, patience, and timing.
   
   

5. Biomechanical Mastery: Seamless motion, cognitive control, and adaptive intelligence.

This decomposition provides a consistent lens for evaluating any hitter — from prospects learning sequencing fundamentals to elite players optimizing timing, rhythm, and decision efficiency.

Francisco Álvarez — Mechanical and Developmental Analysis

1. Sequencing Breakdown

• The critique correctly identifies a top-down kinetic chain rather than a ground-up sequence.
  
  

• Efficient swings begin with:
  
  

1. Ground force creation and torque through the rear leg.
   
   

2. Pelvic rotation that transfers energy up the kinetic chain.
   
   

3. Delayed but connected torso, shoulder, and hand release (“scap load” into “slot”).
   
   

• Álvarez appears to initiate from the shoulders and arms, skipping energy transfer from the lower half — a classic “disconnector.”
  ➤ Result: Power effort without efficiency — visually violent, but low bat-speed efficiency scores (energy lost before impact).

2. Consequences of Upper-Body Dominance

• Bat-speed decay: since lower-body contribution is minimal, he must compensate through muscular effort, which is unsustainable and variable.
  
  

• Plate coverage limitations: when upper-body dominant, the swing plane locks early — making him vulnerable to:
  
  

• Offspeed pitches down/away (no barrel adjustability).

• High-velocity inside fastballs (late sequence prevents tight turns).
  
  

• Predictable attack pattern: pitchers exploit the down-and-away hole and expand vertically once behind in the count.

3. Developmental Implication

• The note about “pre-Cohen era” Mets instruction hits a real developmental critique: the organization historically lagged behind in biomechanics and individualized swing patterning.
  
  

• Recent investment in high-speed motion capture and swing labs (St. Lucie, Binghamton) aims to correct that.
  
  

• Álvarez’s problem is not effort but sequencing re-education: retraining how his pelvis, torso, and hands fire in time.

4. Corrective Pathway

• Kinetic chain drills: step-back & coil, medicine-ball hip rotation, and “pelvis-lead sequencing” under constraint.
  
  

• Visual load re-programming: open-to-closed stride variations to teach ground force timing.
  
  

• Data confirmation: look for increases in Attack Angle stability and Connection Score (Blast metrics) before bat-speed targets.

5. Summary Diagnosis

Álvarez is an explosive athlete with inefficient sequencing.

Current power output = brute force, not flow.
Needs kinetic re-patterning, not harder swings.