This collection of clips challenged me a bit:
Yuli’s overall swing direction is more towards left field than it is towards centerfield. Often when this happens, there is a higher tendency for pull side ground balls and a lowered ability to keep balls in the air with good flight. Obviously, this is not the case with Gurriel. Why?
In the slow motion clip, we see that despite Gurriel’s direction to left field, he is still able to keep palm up as the goes into and through contact. The interesting thing? He uses differing wrist position to make that adjustment.
Most hitters will have a more neutral wrist as they work palm up through contact. We can see that Yuli has to use ulnar deviation (think pinky finger to elbow) earlier than most, to keep his palm up and keep from rolling.
This is an interesting feel to try for those hitters who struggle with “pulling off” the baseball. Maybe instead of completely overhauling your swing direction, you just need a slight adjustment in wrist position to compensate.
Ideally, we are able to do a little bit of both, which should lead to better swing direction and better ball flight.