How Jake Burger's Simplified Swing Approach Unleashed His Power

It took Jake Burger one at-bat against Carlos Rodón to realize he needed to simplify his swing. Burger was coming off a long rehab stint and participating at the White Sox alternate training site during the 2020 COVID-shortened season. 

In college, Burger utilized a step-back load similar to Noalan Arendao. It helped him hit 43 home runs in his final two seasons at Missouri State and win Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year his junior year. 

A ruptured Achilles tendon in 2018, retearing the same Achilles in the middle of his rehab stint, and a bruised heel in 2019 kept him off the baseball diamond for two years. After a long road to recovery, Burger quickly realized he was going to have to overcome another obstacle. Adjusting the swing that had gotten him drafted in the first round. 

“I got to the alternate site and one of my first at-bats was against Carlos Rodón on like a little rehab start,” Burger told MLB Network. “I was doing the step back and I was getting blown up. And I was like ‘I gotta simplify this real quick because that’s not going to play at all.’ And so I got a little wider, a little more in my backside. I made it a lot more simple.” 

If you watch one of Jake Burger’s at-bats this season you will notice his right elbow is up and a short step to the ball. 

Burger says keeping his elbow up helps keep his shoulder to the pitcher. He also utilizes a “scap load” which means that he pinches his shoulder blades just before the pitcher's arm comes around to throw the baseball. The scap load prevents Burger’s body from rolling into the pitch and swinging up and out. 

“If I'm scaping correctly and hip loading correctly everything is straight at the pitcher and I can have coverage for every single pitch,” Burger said. 

This season Burger has finally come into his own and is showing the rest of the MLB why he was selected 11th overall in the 2017 draft. The results speak for themselves. 

Burger’s  21 home runs and .532 slugging percentage place him fifth in the American League. Against fastballs, he is slugging .661 which is the second-highest mark in the MLB behind only Shohei Ohtani. On elevated pitches 2.75 feet off the ground or higher, he is slugging .664 which is the fourth-highest total in the MLB. 

Given how nasty pitchers are in the MLB these days, Burger keeps it simple. He looks for a fastball and if the pitcher leaves it up there is a good chance it’s going 400 feet. His simplified and easily repeatable swing lets his strength do the rest.

“If you are in the right spot to hit the heater your brain and your mechanics are going to adjust to whatever is thrown to you, whether it's a curveball or a slider. You know you’ll lay off more pitches if you are in that mindset.”