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SEATTLE -- Maybe it was just beginner's luck. Excitement was rampant around Safeco Field when several Seattle rookies enjoyed some encouraging success when they first landed in the big leagues. In mid-June, Dustin Ackley reached base safely in his first 18 games. After arriving from Detroit at the end of July, Casper Wells hit home runs in four consecutive starts in August. And just after he hit latest football scores a homer in his second big league game, Trayvon Robinson went 13-for-30 during a stretch in mid-August. But that promising production hasn't quite been the same as the 2011 season -- which has become one of rebuilding -- nears its end. Things got pretty bad after a three-game series against the White Sox at the end of August.Seattle lost all three games at home, as five of the rookies -- Ackley, Ro latest football scores binson, Wells, Mike Carp and Kyle Seager -- combined to go 7-for-46 (.152) with 15 strikeouts.The growing pains had arrived. After a 9-3 loss in the series finale, manager Eric Wedge shed some light on the fluctuation in production that often occurs with young hitters."You come over here and you get 30, 40, 50 at-bats, and then there's a book on you," Wedge offered. "You have a little success, and latest football scores there's more of a book on you. This is big league baseball -- they're going to attack those holes. They're going to attack you with some experience and video and some scouting reports. Now, it's up to these kids to make the adjustment back.""Now that a lot of these young kids have 50 and even 100 at-bats, we're playing teams that are in it, they're going to be attacking them with how they feel th latest football scores ey can get them out," Wedge continued. "Now it's up to the kids to make the adjustment back."Making adjustments is obviously a big part of growing into a better hitter, but what in the world does the word "adjustment" even mean in a baseball sense? When struggling, how much should young hitters listen to their new big league hitting coaches? How much of what got him to the Major Leagues in the fir latest football scores st place should be kept -- it obviously worked at some point -- and what should be changed? How is it possible to achieve that balance?It really depends on age, said Mariners hitting coach Chris Chambliss. Veterans will usually have an idea of their swing --- they've seen lots of big league pitching -- and of what they need to do to improve. For the rookies, it's a bit different. "Whereas the olde latest football scores r guys have made those adjustments before, the younger guys have to learn how to make the adjustments with their own plan at this level," said Chambliss, the 1971 American League Rookie of the Year Award winner. "That's the main difference between the two."The rookies quickly realize that with big league pitching, there is very little room for error and your weaknesses can be easily exposed. "If y latest football scores ou miss a good pitch to hit, you probably won't get another one, especially up here," said Carp, who's batting .288 in 50 games since his recall. "In the Minor Leagues, you can get away with that and get another pitch later in the at-bat. Here, that might be the best pitch you'll see all game, so you [have] to be ready at all times."Ackley, who has just three hits in his past 27 at-bats, added tha latest football scores t it's important to recognize how and why pitchers are getting you out, especially if it's a repeat occurrence. "These pitchers will just keep attacking you," Ackley said. "I think that's the biggest thing -- not trying to do the same things over and over again when they are doing the same things and getting you out. That's just the biggest thing as far as adjustments for me."When the growing pai latest football scores ns set in, adjustments almost always have to be made. While even veterans still make small adjustments every day, the first few substantial changes at the plate are a big hump young players must learn to overcome. Arriving at that crossroads is complicated. Many players are attached to what worked in college or the Minors and are sometimes hesitant to change. "That's a really difficult spot," s latest football scores aid veteran shortstop Brendan Ryan. "You don't want [to] get put in that position, because that's something they can potentially ruin you. Then again, you look at what [Curtis Granderson] is doing with [Yankees hitting coach] Kevin Long. Those guys are figuring it out together."If there is one guy who knows the benefits of making adjustments, it's Granderson. The Yankees All-Star outfielder strugg latest football scores led a bit during his first year in pinstripes in 2010, hitting a career-worst .239 through 87 games. Granderson and Long made some significant changes to the slugger's swing near the end of the last season. Granderson shifted his hands back and began following through with both hands instead of just one, making his swing more simple and more compact. The drastic alterations paid nice dividends. Wi latest football scores th his new and improved swing, Granderson has become one of the league's best hitters and has already set new career highs this season with 39 homers and 111 RBIs. The 30-year-old said that there is a self-evaluation process that needs to happen before any adjustment takes place. "Until it comes to a point where both sides [coach and player] will accept it, then it's not necessarily going to work, latest football scores " he said. "If the person is having results, I've never been one to try to change and create something else." Granderson added that it's usually only when a player is immersed in an awful slump that he'll be willing to make significant changes to his approach. "But people also have to realize that slumps are part of the game," he said "Pitchers are trying to get you out, and it's part of the g latest football scores ame. It may not be something that you're doing. It could be baseball being baseball. Once you finally get over that, then you go and say, 'OK, now it's time to go make a change.'"It's a junction that several Mariners rookies are facing now. Remember what Chambliss said about the rookies "making their own plan"? And what Granderson said about change first coming from within yourself? While coaches latest football scores can have a great impact, it seems to always start with how much the hitter knows about himself, and how driven the individual is to make the changes and sacrifices to become better. "We're talking about them being their own best coaches and knowing themselves better than anybody else," Wedge said. "They need to know their own swing and mechanics better than anybody else. A lot of these guys are a latest football scores long way from that -- but every at-bat, every pitch, every game should be a big-time learning process. They have to be really cognitive of everything going on, and it's our job to help them through it." latest football scores
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