BUILDING ON A BREAKOUT
McCormick aims to stay grounded after emerging as key contributor for team’s loaded offense
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — An emergent third season leaves Chas McCormick to build on his breakout. McCormick finished last season fourth in OPS-plus and fifth in home runs on a loaded Astros offense, production that should result this year in regular playing time and raised expectations.
“My third year, I just learned some things,” McCormick said Friday. “I knew that (pitchers) changed up the plan day in and day out. I knew you had to come up with a plan every single night at the plate and you have to earn that stuff.”
The strides McCormick made in 2023 were evident. He fared better against breaking pitches while he continued to clobber fastballs. He unlocked pull-side power and still sent drives to the opposite field. Among American League hitters with at least 450 plate appearances, he posted the 11th-highest OPS.
Afterward, McCormick turned an eye to a drop-off in the final month-plus. His OPS by month went from 1.128 in July to .822 in August to .703 in September, and he notched one extrabase hit in 31 postseason plate appearances. That finish lent some focus to his offseason hitting.
McCormick said he widened his stance slightly to help him “use the ground more” in his swing, noting he “kind of lost my legs” as he struggled down the stretch.
“Obviously, (pitchers) attack me low and away soft, or hard and in low,” McCormick said. “I want to make sure I have good discipline up there and good direction in my swing so I can hit that low and away soft pitch. But the way to do that is to use the ground, widen out a little bit. I got a little too tall. And my head started moving. I started missing some things.”
McCormick hits from a closed-off stance and said setting
up a little taller helped him stay on top of high pitches. He feels he can still do that from a wider stance with the right bat path. His lull arrived late in a season that brought a careerhigh 457 plate appearances, but McCormick doubts fatigue played a part.
“I think I just got a little lazy in my preparation or I just didn’t make adjustments,” McCormick said. “I was kind of going so well from June to July and even the beginning of August and then teams started to make adjustments and I think I stopped making adjustments.”
That evaluation applies to only part of an encouraging season. McCormick missed three weeks to a back injury in April and May and returned to sporadic playing time, starting 40 of Houston’s first 81 games. He finished with 22 home runs and an .842 OPS, about 100 points higher than the OPS he produced over 50 fewer plate appearances in 2022.
McCormick did make valuable adjustments against righthanders and sliders, two previous nemeses. He hit .268 against sliders, up from a .119 average in 2022. Inability to solve righties made him a platoon player his first two seasons. McCormick still fared better against lefties last season, but his splits were less severe. He also stole 19 bases, profiting from new MLB rules to benefit the running game.
General manager Dana Brown has said McCormick will be “an everyday player” this year in a malleable outfield. He is likely to open in left field, sharing time with Yordan Alvarez, with Jake Meyers getting an opportunity to win the center field job. If Meyers struggles, McCormick could also shift to center. New manager Joe Espada, who succeeded Dusty Baker, will delegate playing time.
Having Meyers in center field gives Houston arguably its strongest defensive outfield. McCormick fared well in center last season, though, with his range garnering positive metrics. The Astros did not make a major addition to their outfield after Michael Brantley’s departure, an indication of trust in the current group that McCormick deemed “huge.”
McCormick reported to West Palm Beach about a week prior to full-squad workouts and in the wake of a celebration. He and longtime girlfriend Courtney Zadinski were married on Feb. 3 in Philadelphia. McCormick said he arrived in Florida early to escape the Northeast cold and start preparing outdoors for a season in which he considers nothing guaranteed.
“Personally, I have to go out and perform,” McCormick said. “If I perform, I’m going to play. If I don’t, I’m not going to play. So it’s the same thing. I’ve got the same mindset going in. I don’t really care what I did last year.”