Trevor Bauer and Kevin Youkilis Get in Bizarre Twitter Feud Over Stances and Pitching Science
Trevor Bauer is one of the more outspoken players in baseball. He is active on Twitter and isn't afraid to join in on any conversation.
Sunday afternoon saw him get in an odd Twitter spat with none other than Kevin Youkilis. It all began when Youk sent out a simple tweet about mechanics. Note that he did not tag anyone.
Well, if we judged everything by the way it looks instead of understanding the science behind what makes it good or bad or both simultaneously...certain batting stances never would’ve made it to the big leagues ??♂️ https://t.co/j8s1ljC9Mj
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) December 22, 2019
Youkilis challenged the concept of some new pitcher training strategies and sent his thought out in the world of social media. Bauer, who is an advocate for using science to train and create new pitches, quoted the tweet and even added a small joke about the odd batting stance of Youkilis.
What this quickly became was a debate between someone relying on science and someone relying predominantly on feel and instinct.
So you are saying that my stance was derived upon science? Interesting how my stance was derived strictly on feel and observation of others. I worked tirelessly through repetition and practice in age without any data. Could I do it the same in today’s game? 100% https://t.co/2bKrxbVtQx
— Kevin Youkilis (@GreekGodOfHops) December 22, 2019
Youkilis even added the classic retired player mantra of saying he would be just fine in today's game, while also implying that data and analytics aren't necessary.
More than anything, this was an odd exchange to see during a football Sunday.