Calhoun showing off his power

Willie Calhoun’s frustrations mounted throughout April.

The ball, with cooler temperatures, was not carrying at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark or anywhere else in the Pacific Coast League.

All Calhoun kept hearing was to wait for warmer weather. Home runs will come then.

And as temperatures have climbed, Calhoun has caught fire. He entered Sunday having home runs in three consecutive games for the second time since April 25.

Now between competing with his Oklahoma City teammates to hit homers and hitting balls into the stands, Calhoun, the Dodgers’ 22-year-old prospect, is nothing but happy.

“It’s really fun, man,” Calhoun said. “Of course when you’re going well everything feels good. That’s how I’m feeling now.”

Calhoun has 13 homers since April 25, which puts him on pace to pass his career-high 27 from last season.

And those numbers don’t surprise the organization.

“He’s always had power,” OKC manager Bill Haselman said. “It really isn’t that much different. It’s just better weather to hit in.”

Calhoun said his approach never changed.

He’s actually part of the trend to hit the ball in the air more. Last season, MLB average on grounders was .239 and slugging percentage was .253. On balls hit as line drives or in the air the average was .411 and slugging was .785.

Calhoun believes fully in the numbers. He wants to hit the ball in the air so bad that if he hits a grounder, he’s angry.

“I’d rather pop up than ground out,” Calhoun said. “I’ll take a popup all day.

“It makes me think I just missed the ball. Just getting that bat angle to go up is the biggest focus for me.”

Calhoun is coming through on his philosophy, and having fun doing it.

Thursday night, he wanted to hit a home run because his friend and roommate Alex Verdugo did. So, Calhoun did that.

Friday night he capped the Dodgers’ first back-to-back-to-back homers. Saturday night he hit one into the upper deck.

“I’m just seeing the ball really well right now,” Calhoun said. “I’m able to see the ball deep into the zone and being able to put good swings on it is key.”