I think that Cust will find that April will continue to be his worst performing month in future years. His success is very reliant on hitting homers. All other things being equal, homers are the least likely to occur in the coldest month of the season (April) due to the density of the air.

I suspect that his final rate numbers will be similar to what he tallied last year, only a notch below. An OPS of .850-.900 would be my guess.

Psychology is very important to success. Ask Jobu. Hats for bats – keep bats warm.

Nice stick but the guy is worse than my 3-year old nephew when it comes to catching a routine fly. We are such an oddly built team and I love that about the/these A’s.

There’s a reason players have their own bats, right? It’s a level of comfort.

If the bat he was using wasn’t comfortable, he could have unconsciously been doing something differently when he swung because he didn’t feel right.

If the new bats “feel” better, ie he’s more comfortable and relaxed, I can believe that. The swing, at this point, is essentially muscle memory. At the level MLB athletes are on, it can be very much a mental thing.

I think you have to make contact with the ball for the bat to actually have any effect.

The designated hitter received a new shipment of bats during the team’s last road series against the Angels, and went 6-for-10 with a home run. His game on Thursday was particularly impressive, as Cust was 4-for-4 with two walks and three runs.

...the article calls him a DH. No wonder we have roster issues coming up. 3 DH’s. I thought it was funny to see all three of them sitting on the bench sunday in the 8th. Now that you have some new bats lets work on some new leather.

Wow. I knew he was hot but not that hot. That’s what … two per game?

...but I honestly can’t speak from experience. Hard wood vs. soft? Well, that’s getting to sound a little more sexual to me but I digress.

I think it has more to do with his adjustments and less to do with the bat, but he’s admitted he’s extremely anal (oops, there we go again) about his bats.

Still, if it makes him feel better to have a stick in his hands (d’oh!) he’s more comfortable with, more power to him.

I hope he keeps stroking (sorry).

Cust forgot to be awesome in april.

if he were hitting a lot of longish fly balls or humpback liners/one-hoppers. But when he is hitting some ordinary ground balls and striking out a bunch – which is how he was getting out a lot in April – it’s hard to see where a “better” bat could have made the difference.

I think he was swinging with too much of an uppercut (more than he normally does) and has brought it back down to where it will shoot the ball into a hit instead of getting way under it. A little more level swing.

“Should a man take the same multivitamins as a woman?”

{calls tranny friends to ask}

facing leftys? batting 176 against them

good old bull durham, meat

Just ask Sammy Sosa. Corked bats actually hinder home run hitting ability, yet batters still seem to think that it adds up to more HRs.

They tested the corked bat myth on a special baseball Mythbusters episode. Should definitely be checked out if possible. Awesome to see the explanation for curve balls.