It's no secret that JJ Bleday has been heating up at the plate. Over his last 15 games, Bleday has gone 13-for-51 (.255) with three home runs and 11 walks that have helped inflate his on-base percentage (OBP) to .387. His numbers are even slightly better in the past seven games with a .261 average and a .393 OBP.
While swing connoisseurs may have picked up on a change at the plate immediately, others needed a point in the right direction. After a recent game, Bleday told reporters that the change for him has been "lowering the hands and just kind of having the ability to have my upper body and lower body work individually and at the same time. I'm still getting some timing things down, but overall I just feel more athletic."
As you can see in these two home run videos from Baseball Savant, there has been a big change in his hand placement when he steps into the batter's box.
In this first video from May 6 against the Kansas City Royals, his hands are helmet high.
In this second video of one of his home runs against the Red Sox last week, his hands are about chest high, and he's able to drive this one over the left-center field fence.
According to his spray chart on Savant, most of his hits this season have come to the pull side (right field for the left-handed bat), and this home run against Boston was his first oppo taco of the season. Of Bleday's 42 hits this year, only six of them have been to the opposite field, and two of those were bunt singles.
While Bleday's .218 average on the year with a .333 OBP and eight homers may not be what fans had in mind when A.J. Puk was traded to Miami in exchange for the outfielder, he has improved across the board since last season. He's hitting for more power, walking more, striking out less, hitting 51 points higher than he did with the Marlins in right about the same number of plate appearances. Not all progress is linear, and not everyone skyrockets to being a superstar immediately. A lot of players have to work at it a little bit before reaching their potential, and Bleday is showing that he is on his way there.
Since I wrote about the Bleday for Puk trade just three days ago, the A's outfielder has added to his WAR total, which now sits at 0.8 wins, while the Marlins reliever saw his WAR total dip slightly to 0.4 wins, per FanGraphs.
At 25-years-old with about two-thirds of a big league season under his belt in his career, Bleday is showing the ability to adapt at the big-league level. He listened to his hitting coaches and their advice seems to be paying off with this current run. He has also taken advantage of the opportunities that have been given to him the season with basically every A's outfielder missing time at some point. A little coaching and an opportunity may be all Bleday needed.
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