Rockies LeMahieu 'Growing As A Hitter'
DENVER (The Sports Xchange) - There was a time when anything DJ LeMahieu did offensively was seen as a bonus, an added extra to his solid defense at second base for the Colorado Rockies and not something that was expected.
That has changed in recent seasons, particularly last year when LeMahieu, a right-handed batter, made a commitment to hitting the ball to right field and never wavered from that plan.
LeMahieu, who turns 28 next month, reached a career high last year in average (.301), homers (6), RBIs (61) and on-base percentage (.358) and tied his career high with 21 doubles.
"I think he's mature enough now that he can pick spots to drive the ball to the pull side of the field," manager Walt Weiss said. "That's not often, but he's mature enough to understand when the time is right to do that -- where it's a certain count, a certain pitcher, a certain part of the game."
LeMahieu went into Thursday with an 11-game hitting streak and had reached base in 17 consecutive games. Both of those runs ended when he went 0-for-4 in the Rockies' 11-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
Regardless, LeMahieu is hitting .311 with 13 doubles, two triples, three homers, 18 RBIs and 30 runs scored. He has a .371 on-base percentage.
"He continues to grow as a hitter," Weiss said before Thursday's game, "and I always felt like he would because of his instincts, his baseball IQ, his feel for the game, his ability to make adjustments, the work ethic.
"All those things tell you that the guy's going to continue to get better and better. And he has. He's become a very good offensive player. (He's) multi-dimensional, that's why I can hit him in different spots throughout the order."
LeMahieu has batted first, second, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth this season. Rookie shortstop Trevor Story batted second exclusively until May 26. LeMahieu hit second for the eighth straight start Thursday.
"He has settled pretty nicely into that two hole and has performed well in that spot," Weiss said.
On Tuesday night when the Rockies tied a franchise record with seven homers, LeMahieu's was the longest. He drove the ball 450 feet to straightaway center, well beyond the 415-foot marker on the wall.
"He's got more raw power than most people," Weiss said. "You watch him take (batting practice) -- he could hit the ball in the seats if that's what he wanted to do. A lot of players would give a lot of money to be able to do what he does well and that's shoot the ball the other way and hit the ball from line to line. That's a great strength to have."