Gittens making case for EL MVP
TRENTON >> There aren’t many right-handed hitters who come to Arm & Hammer Park, a pitchers’ paradise aided by a cavernous outfield and the wind blowing in off the mighty Delaware River, and get the ball out to the opposite field.
Well, unless you’re Chris Gittens.
“That guy is strong,” teammate Zack Zehner said earlier this season before moving up to Triple-A. “He canmake any place look small.”
Gittens is powering the Thunder toward the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, allwhile putting himself in contention for the Eastern League’sMost Valuable Player.
The 25-year-old slugger belted his 20th home run in the second inning of Trenton’s 7-5 victory over Harrisburg on Sunday that sealed a three-game sweep and perfect 6-0 homestand. Gittens became the 18th Thunder player to reach the 20 HR mark and first since Peter O’Brien hit 23 in 2014. He moved within one ofmatching his career high of 21 set in 2017 with Low-A Charleston. The franchise record for home runs in a season is 39 by Mitch Jones in 2004.
“I still have one more to go,” Gittens said. “Whatever comes after that, I’ll be satisfied.”
Like somany of his previous longballs, Gittens hammered number 20 out to right-center. He’s hit 14 of his homers to the opposite field.
It’s power he developed after suffering a knee injury in high school. As Gittens tells it, he was afraid to plant and turn on the injured knee, so he started driving everything to the opposite field.
“Now it’s natural,” he said. “It’s easy to go that way.”
That’s not to ignore the pull side. Five on his homers are to left field and another one to straightaway center. He’s worked on taking a middle-in pitch and pulling it even if he prefers the ball out over the plate so he can get extended.
“I wouldn’t say (it’s amistake when I pull it). I can still get it that way, but it’s a lot easier going the other way,” Gittens said. “I feel like a lot of times when I’m going pull side, I want to do too much. I feel like opposite field just comes natural and I want to be easy. When I go pull side, I don’t like to be easy and I like to yank it. Ithas its ups and downs, but I’mdoing pretty well so far.”
The aptly nicknamed Hard Hittin’ has certainly garnered the Yankees’ attention, and probably a handful of other clubs, too. He’s about to complete his sixth season since he was drafted in the 12th round in 2014 out of Grayson Junior College in Texas, making him Rule-5 eligible if the Yankees don’t move him onto the 40-man roster.
Let the numbers speak for themselves: Gittens has posted a .284/.397/.510 slashwith a league-best .907 OPS. He ranks tied for first in homers (20), first in RBIs (70), first in OBP (.397), second in slugging (.510), third in walks (61) and fifth in batting average (.284). MVP, right?
“If he was not on our team, where would we be?” manager Patrick Osborn said. “I think that’s a really good definition for Most Valuable Player. We wouldn’t have won the first half or even be in the position we are now without Chris Gittens.”
If Gittens were to win the MVP, hewould join Brandon Laird in 2010 as the only other Thunder player to get the EL’s top honor. Opposing pitchers already treat him like that.
“I get a lot of offspeed pitches,” Gittens said. “In that case, I’m just trying to be patient and get my pitch to hit. ... I’ve been swinging well on the offspeed pitches, but last year it was definitely the offspeed pitches that gave me trouble. We worked on that a lot during the offseason and spring training.”
Gittens also felt like he had something to prove after a hip injury limited him to 53 Double-A games with six homers and a .196 average last season.
He’s answered the doubters.
“For any power-hitting players, that 20 is a big mark,” Osborn said. “It’s hard to get to, especially in this league. Chris has had an outstanding year and I’mreally proud of him. He’s done a heck of a job and we wouldn’t be where we are without him.” Erie (Tigers) 36 15 Bowie (Orioles) 34 16 Altoona (Pirates) 23 28 x-Harrisburg (Nationals)21 27 Akron (Indians) 20 30 Richmond (Giants) 20 31 Portland 3, Akron 2 Richmond 3, Bowie 1 New Hampshire 8, Erie 5 Trenton 7, Harrisburg 5 Hartford 5, Binghamton 2 Reading 7, Altoona 3
No games scheduled — Kyle Franko
.706 — .680 11⁄2 .451 13 .438 131⁄2 .400 151⁄2 .392 16
New Hampshire at Binghamton, Game 1, 5:35 p.m.
New Hampshire at Binghamton, Game 2, TBD
Richmond at Bowie, Game 1, 5:35 p.m. Richmond at Bowie, Game 2, TBD Altoona at Harrisburg, 6:30 p.m. Reading at Erie, 7:05 p.m. Trenton at Akron, 7:05 p.m. Portland at Hartford, 7:05 p.m.