Ask him why he made the change and he just shrugs. After fouling out and striking out in his first two at-bats - Brown entered the game in the ninth inning - he figured he'd try something new. In the 14th inning, he made solid contact on a line-out to centerfield. Then, in the 17th, he hit a long fly out, again to center.
"It just felt good," Brown said.
In the 18 games that followed, Brown went 17-for-58 (.293) with six walks, seven strikeouts, four doubles, and four home runs, including a shot to the second deck at Citizens Bank Park in a 9-1 victory over the Marlins on Tuesday night.
Watch a slow-motion replay of that home run - his second of the night - and you'll see his new mechanics in action. As Marlins righthander Edward Mujica cocks his arm and begins to direct his momentum toward the plate, Brown raises his right knee. Down 0-2 in the count, he immediately recognizes a slider out of the pitcher's hand and lifts the knee even higher to load the back half of his upper body like a spring. As the ball passes into the zone, Brown drops his hands and unleashes his swing, a violently smooth transfer of energy from body to bat that sends the ball sailing into the second level of seats above the rightfield wall.
The 23-year-old is hardly an innovator. Strawberry, who was 1 year older than Brown when he slugged 27 homers and helped lead the Mets to the World Series in 1986, was known for his leg kick. According to Phillies hitting coach Greg Gross, catcher Carlos Ruiz will occasionally switch to a leg kick.
