Raise your hand if you thought Zack Collins would ever hit cleanup for the 2022 Blue Jays.
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Toronto traded Reese McGuire to the White Sox for Collins, first because he had minor-league options but also because they liked his offensive makeup. Did the Blue Jays see Collins sliding into the middle of their lineup, though? Probably not.
After a shaky start, the 27-year-old carried a four-game hit streak (8-for-15, two homers, 1.629 OPS) into Thursday’s game versus the Red Sox. With those numbers, and given the Blue Jays’ current injury predicaments, it’s hard to argue against Collins hitting in the four-hole, as weird as that sounds.
But why is he on such a heater at the plate?
Approach
For most of his major-league career, Collins has tinkered with either his swing, his approach, or both. In 2022, he simplified things—don’t swing at breaking balls, and attack hard stuff over the plate.
Collins has swung at just 11.8% of breaking pitches this season and missed on all of them (100% whiff rate). He understands the curve or slider isn’t his pitch—even when it’s in the zone—so he gears up for the heater and leans into big hacks.
“This year I'm here for one thing, and that's to put the ball as far as I possibly can and drive in runs. That’s the name of the game,” Collins told Inside The Blue Jays before the season. “Enough of the mechanical thinking and stuff like that. I'm here to hunt my pitch and hit it far. And that's it.”
On Thursday at Fenway, Collins stayed true to his gameplan. He saw multiple sliders from Sox starter Tanner Houck but didn’t flinch, even if that meant going down looking.
Instead, Collins waited for straighter pitches. He put a good swing on a splitter in the third inning and drove a 100-mph lineout to center, then ambushed a fastball for a 103-mph groundout in the eighth.
While this anti-breaking ball approach will inevitably lead to more strikeouts, it’s worked so far for Collins, who’s been a patient hitter throughout his career. There’s nothing wrong with sticking to something if it’s working, and both Collins and the Jays seem pleased with the early season results so far.
Execution
A good approach is half the battle, and, historically, Collins has struggled with the execution. But a new philosophy supported by Jays hitting coach Guillermo Martinez has Collins embracing the hitch in his swing and just letting ‘er rip.
With a clear mind at the dish, Collins is punishing mistake pitches, evidenced by his bomb Tuesday against a Nathan Eovaldi meatball cutter. He did the exact same thing to another cutter—an especially juicy pitch for Collins’ hitch-swing—for a double off the wall in last weekend's series versus the Athletics at Rogers Centre.
Like most hitters do, Collins has identified the fastball in the middle of the zone—middle-in, especially—as “his pitch,” and he’ll rarely swing at anything else. So when pitchers lay it in, Collins has smoked those balls for hard-hit fly balls and line drives.
Collins is confident in himself and what he’s capable of at the plate. He said he’s a power guy, and so far, he’s backed that up. While pitchers will eventually figure out Collins’ disdain for breaking balls, he’ll continue to attack until he’s forced to make an adjustment.
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