Player Profile: Trent Gilbert

      Trent Gilbert is a 6’1” 175 lb. Freshman at the University of Arizona. In 2011, he was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 40th round of the MLB Amateur Draft. He enjoyed a great deal of team success this past year, as the Arizona Wildcats won the 2012 NCAA National Championship. As a true freshman, he started 64 games and hit .272. For the Bourne Braves, he had a rough start making some adjustments to the speed of the Cape League. Despite his struggles, he still has managed to produce an on-base percentage 120 points higher than his batting average. I am very impressed with his great grasp of the strike zone, especially considering that he is a young baseball player.
      The reason I am writing a player profile on him is that I fell in love with his swing at first sight! In my opinion, his swing is very pretty. He has a nice, compact swing and his hands get through the zone quickly. He has impressive power for a player his size because his hands generate so much snap through the zone. I would say: his bat-head explodes through the hitting zone. As for mechanics, he starts his swing with his weight back, his elbow up and his bat on his shoulder. He uses a slight toe tap to set his hands into the hitter’s slot. When the bat comes off of his shoulder, his front foot lands and his weight shifts to the middle of his body. At this point, his hands move directly to the baseball. His hands come through the zone before the bat-head. The bat-head then explodes into the baseball. He hits the ball out in front and his head stays down. His eyes are on the bat when he makes contact. I firmly believe that Trent’s average will begin to soar when he makes the necessary adjustments. He sees the ball well, and his swing is impressive. In fact, I believe he may already be turning it around. He has at-least one walk and one hit in the last three games he has been in the starting line-up. That includes a home-run at Falmouth on July 20th.