Dodgers First Baseman Adjusts Swing Stance to Reverse Early Season Slump

The Dodgers first baseman began the season with a strong performance but saw those results decline sharply by late April. 300 average. During the team's recent road trip in Houston he experimented with a new stance in the batter's box. He turned his front foot inward and focused on keeping his front hip from flying open.

The goal was to stay squared up longer and drive the ball on a line to left field rather than slapping it. The adjustment drew from a setup similar to one used by another player. Since the change the 36-year-old has gone 4-for-11 in Houston including back-to-back games with a double for the first time since mid-April.

In the series opener against Atlanta he hit a home run off a fastball marking his first since April 6. Each of the recent extra-base hits went to left field. The first baseman said the results came quickly after the tweak. He added that the mechanical change has helped him make better swing decisions and let the ball travel longer.

Even his misses have been better he stated. 500. He had expressed only minor frustration with fly balls that died at the warning track. That changed during a homestand in the final week of April when he went 3-for-25 and felt late on fastballs. The first baseman had taken three straight days of on-field pregame batting practice which is rare for him.

The team's manager noted that it is not easy for the veteran to try different things but described him as a smart player who understands the need for adjustments at this stage of his career. The statistical improvement actually began during the prior weekend series in St.

Louis where he went 5-for-13. That started a current seven-game hitting streak. He said that even then he lacked full confidence in his mechanics and had tried to cheat on swings to catch up to velocity which differed from his approach over 17 seasons.

The first baseman indicated he hopes the changes lead to more permanent improvement. He had been searching for his swing feel during the slump and noted that small mental and external tweaks have been part of his routine before.

The first baseman's resurgence includes his first home run in more than a month and multiple extra-base hits in the opposite direction. He stated that he had not put a swing like that on a ball in a month. The adjustment occurred one morning in Houston when he decided he could not continue pushing balls to left field.

The first baseman reflected on the early season when his swing felt as good as he could recall in recent years. The contrast with the late-April slump prompted the experimentation with his foot position and routine. He emphasized that the hip staying in longer has been a key part of the recent upturn.