Braylon Bishop dove into the deep end of the pool.
Drafted in the 14th round last year, and given an over-slot $268,700 bonus, Bishop is part of a very exciting 2021 prep class to join the Pirates organization. And he might feature the nicest swing in the system.
“He does have a nice swing,” confirmed Pirates farm director John Baker. “He’s just a baseball player, too. I think that’s the other thing. Again, another competitor. It’s nice to have these kids that are young, that are trying to learn the game, play the game hard, want to win, want to learn everything all the time. It’s the thing you ask for.”
Baker related that when he was coming up as a prospect, coaches would tell the players they had to be the guy who wants to win the big league game and the basketball game and every other game.
“That’s Braylon,” said Baker. “He does it with a smile on his face.”
We’ve written about Bishop’s swing in the past. Cody Potanko broke it down prior to the season, noting how much effort he puts in.
Here is a video from that article, looking at the massive loop of a bat path that Bishop used to take, made possible by his incredibly quick bat speed.
I got a feeling Braylon Bishop is going to be very fun to watch in 22’. I mean just look at that bat speed
From the looks of his first homer, per the video below shared by Kody Duncan, he’s cleaned things up a bit.
Braylon Bishops first pro HR video pic.twitter.com/pCL4mKZULm
— Kody Duncan (@KodyDuncanPGH) June 9, 2022
Bishop shows a slightly higher leg kick, a more calm body, and less of an obvious upper cut movement. Those might not be direct changes he made, but more a result of how his swing looks when his body is in the right position with the right focus.
Prior to the year, Bishop had a hitting coach who the Pirates worked with to get to know the outfielder better. He has since taken on lessons from Pirates hitting coordinator Jonny Tucker and assistant field coordinator Jim Horner, and the rest of the staff in the FCL.
The results have been promising, and have already led to some early offense in the FCL.
“I think the swing that we see today, it will only continue to get better,” said Baker.
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