LOS ANGELES — Former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle used to refer to Todd Helton as “a professional hitter.” has now earned his own card from the professional hitters’ union.
It’s not simply that the Rockies’ second baseman hit .348 last season to win the National League batting title, it’s that LeMahieu has come to know himself so well. He has learned to make adjustments at the plate and fix tiny flaws in his swing, and he is ultraconfident that his average will take care of itself.
The beginning of this season is proof.
LeMahieu stumbled out of the gate batting 2-for-23 (.087) and wasn’t hitting the ball hard. But entering Tuesday night’s game at Dodger Stadium, LeMahieu had batted 12-for-27 (.444) over his previous eight
games to bring his average up to .280. He had six multihit games during that stretch, including all
four games at San Francisco.
“For me, it’s a matter of relaxing and getting in the groove again,” LeMahieu said. “You never want to start off a season the way I did, but at the same time, I’ve been 4-for-40 before. So I’ve been there. It’s just that everything is magnified at the beginning of a season. I was not stressing out about it.”
The 28-year-old with 686 big-league games under his belt knows he didn’t handle slumps nearly as well when he broke in with the Chicago Cubs in 2011.
“It’s different now, because it’s about having success at this level,” he said. “It’s about taking care of the things I need to in order to get back in a groove. Like I said, I’ve seen 4-for-40 and come back stronger.”
First-year manager Bud Black is impressed by LeMahieu’s approach.
“It was just a matter of time for him to get on track, because his swing and how he conducts an at-bat allows him to get hits often,” Black said. “He uses the whole field. He can hit groundballs and line drives the other way. He can pull the ball with authority.
“Just his style of hitting sets him up for success and sustaining a consistently high batting average and a high on-base percentage. He’s that type of hitter and that type of player.”
As Helton did, LeMahieu has earned a reputation as a player who can take the ball the opposite way. But he can also pull ball to left field or hit straight up the gut when he needs to. San Diego discovered that in a game at this season. The Padres pulled an extreme shift in their outfield, leaving left field barren. LeMahieu made them pay by driving a double to straightaway left.
“That probably would have been a line-drive out to the left fielder, but I got a double,” he said. “And if they are going to shift against me that much, it means they are obviously thinking about me. That’s a good thing.”
Roster moves. Colorado shuffled its roster, reinstating outfielder from the paternity list and promoting utility infielder from Triple-A Albuquerque. The Rockies optioned right-handed reliever Shane Carle and outfielder to the Isotopes.
Valaika played 13 games with the Rockies last season as a September call-up, hitting .263. He has hit .267 in 11 games at Triple-A this year, including a game in which he hit for the cycle.
“Pat is swinging the bat well, and he had a good spring for us,” Black said. “With the games coming up this week, with left-handed starters the next two nights (Hyun-Jin Ryu on Tuesday and Clayton Kershaw on Wednesday) and (San Francisco’s) Matt Moore this weekend, it’s nice to have a right-handed bat on the bench.”
Parra missed the final three games of the Rockies’ series in San Francisco for the birth of his second child.
Looking ahead …
Rockies LHP Tyler Anderson (1-2, 8.59 ERA) at Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (2-1, 2.53), 8:10 p.m. Wednesday, ROOT; 850 AM
This is not an easy assignment for Anderson, who is matched up against Kershaw, the premiere left-hander in baseball. But win or lose Wednesday night, Anderson has to start pitching better. His 8.59 ERA through three starts is not what the Rockies, nor Anderson, expected, especially after he finished his 2016 rookie season 5-6 with a 3.54 ERA in 19 outings. Anderson has allowed six walks this season, and five of those runners have scored. The Rockies have been adjusting Anderson’s mechanics, hoping to get him back to being the groundball-inducing machine he was last year. Facing Kershaw at Dodger Stadium is never an easy task; he no-hit the Rockies here June 18, 2014, striking out 15 and coming an error away from perfection. Kershaw is in fine form, again, narrowly missing a complete-game shutout against Arizona in his last start. That came after the Rockies roughed him up April 8 at Coors Fielding, hitting three homers, including the first back-to-back homers Kershaw has allowed in the majors.
Thursday: Off
Friday: Giants RHP Johnny Cueto (3-0, 3.79 ERA) at Rockies RHP Tyler Chatwood (1-2, 3.54), 6:40 p.m. ROOT
Saturday: Giants LPH Matt Moore (1-2, 4.26) at Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (2-0, 2.37), 6:10 p.m., ROOT
