CHICAGO — Alex Bregman is most frequently seen, by media at least, hustling somewhere with his bat. Whether it’s heading to the cages or batting practice, it seems like Bregman is always on the move and always looking to work.
That may be how he’s built. Perhaps that is how he always goes about business. But early this season, Bregman is focused on fixing something very specific. After a 1-for-3 performance in Sunday’s thrilling 2-1 walkoff victory over the New York Mets — his lone hit was an infield single — Bregman’s .233/.309/.314 line is certainly not what anyone expected of him.
The team is performing well. In fact, the offense as a whole is, too. So Bregman has some breathing room and time to get right. But it’s been a bit of a slog.
A lot of what Bregman is currently doing at the plate normally leads to success. He’s not chasing or swinging and missing, both at an elite rate. He’s squaring the ball up frequently, and his hard-hit rate is the highest it’s ever been.
Still, the results just aren’t coming. It’s not hard to find the culprit. Bregman’s groundball rate of 47.8 percent is nearly a dozen points higher than his career average.
One can hardly get the question out before Bregman chimes in.
“Way too high,” Bregman said when his groundball rate was brought up. “Get the ball off the ground! Disconnected, bats being left behind me, contact point is deep. When I’m good, I get the ball out front. It’s poor mechanics right now that I’m working through. But I’m going to get it.”
Nobody around him doubts that. Manager Craig Counsell seems unbothered by the lack of results. After some solid results from Bregman during a recent game, Counsell made it seem like those hits were just inevitable.
“There was no question it was coming,” Counsell said. “Bregman needed it, but it was coming.”
But even in that game, a three-hit night nearly two weeks ago against the Tampa Bay Rays, Bregman felt he was leaving extra bases on the table. He missed a sinker he thought he should have sent over the fence and, in general, didn’t think he was making the type of contact he could.
“You take it one at-bat at a time,” Bregman said at the time. “Try to get a good pitch to hit and hit it hard. I feel like there’s stuff that I still need to clean up. I’ve been hitting the ball hard, but I feel like the bat path can be improved a little bit.”
Hitting coach Dustin Kelly explained that what Bregman refers to as “bat path” isn’t what most observers are thinking about. For him, it’s not about his swing arc, but rather where he’s launching from and the direction his hands are going.
“A lot of this is he feels like his hands are getting pretty far away from his body and working uphill,” Kelly said. “When he’s at his best, hands stay tighter to his body and it’s a direct, straight path inside the ball. He wants to feel like he’s throwing a jab, not an uppercut.”
And what has that done?
“It’s pushed the contact point back a little bit,” Kelly said. “He’s not getting to the balls where he wants to. It’s gotten better. We’re tightening up. Trying to keep the hands a little higher, but it’s in progress.”
Alex Bregman’s whiff rate is only 16.6 percent, but he has only five runs and two homers on the season. (Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
When Bregman isn’t catching the ball out front and the contact point is deeper, that’s going to lead to an elevated groundball rate. So Bregman continues to work. In the cage, Kelly will set up the pitching machine so it’s almost directing balls at his back hip. This forces Bregman to be direct with his hands and catch the ball out front.
Kelly also pointed out that Bregman’s work is not the norm for hitters.
“He’s different from a lot of guys,” Kelly said. “He doesn’t necessarily care if it feels bad, it needs to look right. Other guys won’t care what it looks like as long as it’s feeling good. He’s on the other side.”
Bregman is more of a visual learner in this way. He says he’d rather be told or see what he’s doing wrong rather than have it feel right. Because with enough work, he can get what doesn’t feel right to feel more natural.
“It’s going to feel bad when I make the change to hit a certain way,” Bregman said. “It’s going to feel off. But I’m going to try and make the ‘off feel’ feel right. Then build off that, and then get the feel. What I’m doing right now is off. I want to know what I’m doing wrong, then get a cue that will put me in the right spot even if it feels bad, then make that ‘feel bad’ feel good by doing it over and over again.”
Bregman still isn’t where he wants to be. He’s not as productive as he expects to be. But he’s identified the problem and is doing what he needs to find the mechanics that lead to success.
“Just work at it,” Bregman said. “It’s programmed in right now. I gotta reprogram something else in.”
