San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Peña, Meyers offer powerful examples of improved swings
Two resonant swings in an Astros win Friday night came from hitters who entered this season seeking a resurgence. Jeremy Peña continued his reawakening and Jake Meyers an encouraging trend, illustrating the presumed depth that lurks in Houston’s lineup.
Meyers struck the first blow for the Astros in their 5-4 win over the Brewers, a two-run home run in the second inning. In a 3-1 count, Meyers turned on a slider up and in from Freddy Peralta and drove it 379 feet into the Crawford Boxes.
The baseball left Meyers’ bat at 102.7 mph. He stung a 107.8 mph lineout to center field in his next at-bat, reinforcing an element of his early season.
Meyers is making better contact more often. Last season, the center fielder ranked in the bottom 5% of major-league hitters in average exit velocity (86 mph) and hard-hit rate (27.9%) while compiling a .678 OPS. He entered Friday averaging a 92.2 mph exit velocity on 66 batted balls in play this season, with a 43.9% hard-hit rate. He owned an .834 OPS after Friday’s game.
Meyers said he has worked with Astros hitting coach Troy Snitker on keeping his swing on a consistent path through the strike zone. Meyers said he was “rolling the bat over” too often last year, resulting in ground balls to his pullside, and has focused on “staying through” the ball.
“I just want to focus on being athletic and getting good pitches to hit this year,” Meyers said. “And that was kind of the last key piece coming into spring training. We’ve just been hammering it for the past month, and I think I’m starting to really see it pay off.”
Of Meyers’ 23 hits this season, 10 are for extra bases. Much of his damage has come against fastballs — he entered Friday hitting .320 and slugging .620 against them — but he was able to drive Peralta’s high slider for his first home run of the season against a breaking pitch. He was 5-for-24 with a 46.8% whiff rate against breaking pitches entering the game, per Baseball Savant.
“He’s always had strength,” manager Joe Espada said. “It’s just, he’s not missing that pitch when it’s in the middle of the plate. Either a fastball or a hanging slider, he’s putting some good swings on them and he’s hitting some balls really hard.”
Peña delivered the decisive swing of Friday’s game in the fifth. In a full count, Peña waited back on a low slider from Peralta and drove it 380 feet for a threerun home run that gave Houston its 5-4 lead.
Sliders were a bane for Peña last season. He hit .215 against them. He hit just two of his 10 home runs on breaking pitches before a well-documented power disappearance that left him homerless after July 5.
On Friday, Peña said he wasn’t looking for a slider from Peralta in the fifth but “recognized it out the hand.” One of Peña’s goals in simplifying his hitting setup this offseason was better pitch recognition. His early numbers against sliders indicate progress in that area.
This season, Peña has shown an ability to do damage against sliders while also handling fastballs amid a rebound. He entered Friday hitting .345 and slugging .552 against sliders. Four of his five home runs are against breaking pitches. Peralta retired him on a lineout and a strikeout, each on sliders, in two atbats before his home run. Peña struck a 385-foot lineout on a slider from Elvis Peguero in his final at-bat.
Peña was hitting .326 with an .823 OPS entering Saturday. As of Friday night, he ranked third among American League hitters in batting average and was tied with teammate Jose Altuve for the league lead in hits (56).
“I feel simple” at the plate, Peña said. “I feel like I can repeat my routine day in, day out. I can repeat my swing, positions at the plate. And just simplifying my at-bats, I think that’s the biggest change.”
Another goal of Peña’s quieter setup is a more consistent swing. He said Friday he is “moving in the right direction” to where the altered mechanics feel normal.
“I feel like I get jumpy at times,” Peña said. “I try to do too much, try to get big, muscle up. It’s just stay loose, stay relaxed and trust the work we put in.”