LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jason Bay is fighting the temptation to tinker with his mechanics the same way a person on a diet might reach for willpower to avoid an open box of doughnuts.
The Mets left fielder said he is winning the mental battle, but a few results certainly might help diminish his chances of falling into relapse.
“I’m not cheating or anything,” Bay said yesterday. “There are times when you feel good and then you don’t and say, ‘Here’s what I need to change.’ But don’t change anything — it’s part of the process. I’ve had to fight that a little bit, but it’s kind of human nature.”
Bay is still without an RBI this spring as he attempts to resurrect his career midway through a four-year contract worth $66 million that contains a fifth-year vesting option.
Overall he’s hitting .240 with eight strikeouts in 25 spring at-bats. That comes after a season in which Bay constantly tinkered with mechanics, before this winter deciding he would stick with the open batting stance and less movement. That was the approach that led to his success with the Pirates and Red Sox.
The results haven’t followed. But with 12 exhibition games still remaining, the Mets aren’t panicking yet.
“He looks better to me, more like himself at this point than he did last year,” hitting coach Dave Hudgens said. “Last year, he was trying to make some adjustments and some changes, trying to be more consistent, but he lost his whip — he kind of lost his feel and his whip with the bat.
“Now he’s getting back to what he’s always done, what he’s always been: a more feel-and-rhythm type of hitter. I think he feels like he’s got that whip back.”
By one measure, it has been an extremely successful spring for Bay.
“I’m one of the few guys that hasn’t been in the training room,” Bay said. “Knock on wood. I shouldn’t have said that.”
David Wright, who still hasn’t made his Grapefruit League debut as he recovers from a strained left rib cage, said Bay’s numbers this spring aren’t an issue.
“Maybe if you’re trying to make the team, but I’m pretty sure he’s got a spot,” Wright said. “It’s more about going out there and trying to work on stuff.”
Bay said he’s having timing problems. He does not view mechanics as an issue.
“The good part is it has nothing to do with the swing,” Bay said. “It’s basically not playing for five or six months and then catching up to major league pitching.”
Bay’s focus this spring also involves pulling the ball again after trying last season to become a hitter to all fields. But Bay also wants to avoid the trap of becoming pull happy.
“I definitely want to play to my strength, but my intent isn’t to go up there and yank everything,” Bay said. “But that ultimately is a distinct part of my game, pulling the ball.”
He also doesn’t want anybody alarmed by his anemic spring training numbers.
“I understand it’s spring training and there’s not really much else to talk about, but come July nobody is going to care what you did in spring training,” Bay said. “I’ve done this long enough to know that. You’ve just got to buy into it.”