Swing geek opens eyes with Giants in Arizona
Former hockey standout credits Bonds video clips for recent hitting success
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Jason Vosler’s formative influences are all hardhitting Hall of Famers and the Hall of Fame adjacent — which makes sense for the Giants’ top offensive player this spring.
Vosler grew up in suburban New York, idolizing Derek Jeter, and he now routinely studies the game’s greatest players and their swings. One guidepost, in particular, for quality atbats is Barry Bonds.
But in his youth, Vosler would attend 30 to 40 Yankees games a year, with his eyes trained on one player.
“Two was a hard number to get around that area. But if I could get No. 2, I would. I was holding my hands up high, like Jeter did,” Vosler said. “Everybody was. It wasn’t just me; we were all copying
his stance.”
Hockey was Vosler’s favorite sport at Don Bosco Prep High School in Ramsey, N.J. — he played wing and he loved delivering a big hit — but beginning with his junior year, he focused on baseball, which he knew would be his future.
His hockey background resonated with his college coach, Northeastern’s Mike Glavine — yes, the brother of Hall of Fame pitcher and noted amateur hockey player Tom Glavine.
“From a college recruiting aspect of what we’re looking for, I absolutely look for guys that played hockey or football, but in particular hockey because I do think there’s a mentality that brings a toughness to a game that is obviously different,” Glavine said. “You’re not getting banged around and hit and all that stuff, but you have to be tough to play this game and hockey players have that and natural handeye coordination. A lot of times that’s where a good lefthanded swing comes in. They’ve been doing that their whole life. Jason has that, and that mental and physical toughness.”
Glavine recognized a trait Vosler shared with his childhood idol.
“One of the things you remember is Jeter was just constantly steady and you knew you were going to get a great effort out of him every day — and that’s how I feel like Jason was,” Glavine said. “We knew we were going to get his best. Even if he wasn’t hitting he was going to do something to help us win on the defensive end.”
Jeter was just the start for Vosler when it came to analyzing legendary players. That’s how he came to know Giants assistant hitting coach Dustin Lind long before joining the organization as a minorleague free agent this winter. Vosler was a fan of Lind’s compilation of top hitters’ swings.
“I got a lot of info off his Twitter,” Vosler said. “He compiled this folder of every great hitter ever. He had like 20 to 30 swings of each of them and it was such a great resource, like, ‘I want to try this, let me see if Barry Bonds did it.’ He had hundreds, probably thousands of videos on there.”
Vosler said he can’t emulate Bonds’ swing, but he just absolutely loves watching him. His current inspirations include Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols, and he also scours the internet for the latest philosophies.
“I’ve definitely been into all the newage swing thoughts and theories and stuff,” Vosler said. “I feel like I’ve tried them all out at one time or another.”
This is one of the ways Vosler is a good fit for the Giants: The coaching staff encourages players to learn about different approaches. He came to camp early, at the start of January, eager to work with them.
“We had twoonone time with him for about three weeks,” hitting coach Donnie Ecker said.
“The first thing we do is we sit down and we look at what could be possible if we helped him move better, help this batpath be better, if we customize the way he gameplans.”
Vosler’s bat path reminds Ecker of some good hitters already: He sees some Joe Mauer, some Joey Votto in the swing. So the emphasis since January has been Vosler’s setup, ensuring he is balanced, his leg kick and toetap are in sync, and everything is smooth and efficient.
The results: Vosler leads the team with 12 hits, which will make for an interesting decision.
The team already has a lot of versatile, offensiveminded utility players who are expected to be regulars, including Tommy La Stella, Donovan Solano and Wilmer Flores. Vosler is younger, at 27, and might be slightly better defensively — he doesn’t have enormous range but he’s reliable. At the least, if there is an injury, a trade or someone is underperforming, he appears as if he will be a solid option.
“He’s always been a guy who works to limit mistakes, a very intentional player on both sides,” one National League scout said. “Anticipatory and makes the routine play a priority, his low heart rate in the box bleeds positively into his defense — his hands stay soft to firm stuff, and he knows where to throw the ball at higher speeds.”
The Giants have always liked Vosler. General manager Scott Harris knows him from the Cubs organization, where Vosler spent the first five years of his pro career. They called him on the first day of free agency and wanted him enough to offer him a spot on the 40man roster, which lured him away from a standing offer with his most recent club, the Padres. And he’s thrilled with his decision.
“This is the best camp I’ve ever been to,” Vosler said. “The coaching staff, the players, everyone is just so friendly and open and everything is so well run. I’ve really enjoyed every minute of it.”