Doesn't it get to a point where the other teams know it's more than a slump and their pitchers can go after him more often?
They were at that point a month ago. I remarked about it when I saw Berkman swing about two seconds behind three fastball down the middle of the plate by a Phillie reliever on a Fox Sports Saturday broadcast (it was in April no less). It shocked me that he was so late on pitches he absolutely crushes. It got to be the norm for him to swing and miss at fastballs like that. He's not right, but I don't know if it is indeed injury related. When Berkman says he is not comfortable, it can mean a whole lot of things, from feeling a bit hindered to feeling a twinge of pain on every left handed swing. Again, I dunno, but the point remains, as soon as scouts saw Berkman's swing when being challenged in April, I'm sure the word made the rounds in May from just about every one in the majors that you can indeed challenge Berkman and stand a very good chance of beating him.
I saw the game this past Saturday and Joe Giradi kept saying that Berkman was rolling over fastballs on the outside part of the plate and that all he needed to do is hit those pitches to left field (as he has done in the past). With his power, those weak ground balls to second turn into long gone Conoco Pump blast. He may be right, maybe it is recognition of the pitch that is the problem (which means he needs his eyes checked).
But I've seen enough middle in fastballs to Berkman now get weakly grounded to second to say I am not so sure that Giradi is correct on that one.
