Player Profile: Chase McDonald

    Chase McDonald is an East Carolina sophomore who has started the Braves’ first two games of the year at first base. Going in to the 2012 season, he was ranked by College Baseball Daily as the #40 Best Player. This ranking was the highest of any Bourne Brave. This is his first season in the Cape League. He played in the Coastal Plains League(CPL) in 2011. In the CPL, he led the league with a .403 batting average, 51 RBIs, and finished second in the league with 13 home runs. So after missing the CPL triple crown by two home runs, McDonald was named to the CPL All-Star game and named the 2011 Rawlings CPL Offensive Player of the Year. Before the summer of 2011, McDonald hit .314 with 4 HRs, 11 doubles, and 31 RBIs. He was on the Conference USA (C-USA) All-Freshman team, College Baseball Daily’s C-USA All-Freshman team, and the Charlottesville All-Regional Team. To read even more about the praise being lauded upon this young man, check out his Baseball Factory Player Page and click on the Professional Evaluation tab.
    After watching Chase in the first two games, and three batting practices, I noticed he has a very good power swing.He keeps his hands at his eye level beginning his swing, and his elbow up. He really gets into the ball well.  I spoke to him about how he generated a lot of topspin line drives in his first couple batting practices and how he did an excellent job of getting inside the baseball while hitting two long drives to right field during the game. He said, “I was trying to hit line drives because it was very windy, and once the wind died down you could elevate the ball a bit more and hit more balls in the gap.” His hitting adjustment was critical in this 3-2 game, because his bottom of the 6th double and eventual run gave the Braves a 2-1 lead. I posted two videos to show a timing adjustment in his swing. The first video was shot at the Impact Invitational on March 6, 2010, the second was on June 15, 2012 at Doran Park versus the Hyannis Harborhawks.  The adjustment made from 2010-2012 is a slight toe tap and leg twist to allow him to set his hands better. You can see in the 2010(top) video his hands move together with his hips, and that his hands drop into his swing. In the 2012(bottom) video, you can see his hips initiate the swing and how the first motion his hands make is directly to the path of the ball. After his hands follow the path, you can see the adjustment Chase made (in the game today). He fouls off the pitch I filmed, but it is very easy to see that he is trying to get inside this baseball and drive it to right field.