A GOINS CONCERN
Jays’ infielder coming of age
When Kevin Seitzer was hired as the Blue Jays batting coach before the 2014 season, Ryan Goins became his first project. In January, during his first meeting with Toronto reporters, Seitzer waxed excitedly about their budding bond, and how he had taken Goins into his Kansas City home for a weekend where they watched video, worked in a batting cage and came up with some swing changes that would make Goins better. It didn’t work. Perhaps it is only coincidental, but Seitzer left for Atlanta in the off-season, Brook Jacoby took over the Toronto job and suddenly, Goins has become a productive hitter for the first time in his bigleague career.
Or maybe it isn’t coincidental. In an interview, Goins does not mention Seitzer’s name, but he makes it clear that he and Seitzer were not a good fit. This year, working with Jacoby and assistant Eric Owens, it took a while, but for now at least, he has found an approach that works.
“In my case last year, it was ‘take pitches, hit the ball the other way all the time,’” Goins said. “It wasn’t what I felt comfortable doing. It wasn’t what got me here. Then this year I come in and they both say, ‘Do what you want, and if you have questions, ask and we’ll help.’ And that’s exactly what’s happened.
“It’s been great. The biggest thing I think this year is being comfortable. If you’re not comfortable, you’re not going to have success.”
For those who cover the Jays, documenting his recent success has become a cottage industry. If you’re a Jays fan, you know the narrative — defensive whiz adds hitting to his repertoire for a pennant drive. And that walk off homer Goins hit against Cleveland on Tuesday night is certainly fresh in your mind.
His surge has produced some startling then-and-now numbers.
Before the all-star break this year, Goins owned a .213 career batting average, with too many strikeouts and precious few walks. In 32 games since he became a fulltime starter on July 26, he has batted .287 with a .398 on-base percentage. Over that period, he has 23 strikeouts and 18 walks in 113 plate appearances.
His 16 per cent walk rate in that period is remarkable. Previously, for his entire career, his walk rate was 3.6 per cent.
Goins’s success stems, at least in part, from a couple of changes he made while working with Jacoby during a 25-game stretch in June and July when Devon Travis was starting at second base before returning to the disabled list.
Goins now rests his bat on his shoulder before he sets up his swing. A left-handed hitter, his weight is balanced evenly on both feet instead of leaning more heavily on his left leg.
As he describes the changes, he also raises a point of comparison to his relationship with Seitzer last year.
“With my hands on my shoulder, they’re just there and I’m relaxed,” he said. “When the pitcher gets ready to go, I get ready to go. I’m just going out there with a clear head. There’s no, ‘Hey, do this, take a strike, hit the ball here, this is what you need to do.’ All I’m trying to do is have a good at-bat, and I think it’s showing up more and more.”
The changes tightened his swing path and helped him wait a little longer before deciding whether to swing, Jacoby said. Dig deep into his stats, and you’ll find a new portrait of Goins, who is seeing more pitches, getting better pitches to hit because he is not swinging at the bad ones so often, missing fewer pitches when he does swing, walking a lot more and increasing his hard contact.
Jacoby says his philosophy is to offer advice and leave it up to the hitter to decide what to do with it. He credits Goins with making the adjustments and making them work.
“I just said, ‘Put it on your shoulder. Get your feet a little narrower. Fifty-fifty in your stance to start — balanced,’” Jacoby recalls. “He was a little bit set up on his back leg. We were just trying to keep it as simple as possible. It’s helped clean up his bat path, especially on the ball away, because he would tend to loop it a little bit.”
Before the break, Goins was batting .226 with a .273 OBP. Entering Friday’s game against Baltimore, his numbers are up to .247 and .318 respectively for the season. The Jays would be happy if he can sustain that trend.
“If he can bring that, along with the defence he plays, he can stay in this game for a long time,” Jacoby said.
When Goins took over for Travis, a rookie with a good bat, many observers figured Goins would let his defence shine while the others in the Jays’ potent attack covered for his offensive deficiencies. His improvement at the plate is another in a series of providential developments for the high-flying Jays over the past month.
His sample size as a successful hitter is small. Since July 26, his batting average on balls in play is .348, well above average for even the best hitters, suggesting some luck is involved. But it takes more than luck to improve his plate discipline as he has, and to force pitchers to come to him instead of baiting him with so many pitches outside the zone.
Playing every day helps, too. “Part of it is feeling like you belong,” manager John Gibbons said.
Goins was a good hitter in the minors. In his big-league career, he has always resented his good-field, no-hit rap. But until this season, it was deserved.
“When everybody says you can’t do it, and you start doing it, it feels good,” he said.
Perhaps it is ironic that Goins is taking more pitches this year after his discomfort with a coach who wanted him to take more pitches last year. A bigger problem for Goins, it seems, was Seitzer’s prescriptive approach.
“It’s not so hands-on as it was last year,” he said. “I’m not saying that was a bad thing, but for some people, hands-on is not what they want.”