Nick Swisher says one look shows the difference.
Last year when hitting — and especially in home games — he had more movement than a paper plate in a hurricane. Head bobbing, hands moving. Your basic marionette. Now?
“Just trying to relax the body, trying to stay quiet, trying to be not as jumpy,” Swisher said after completing a 9-of-23 (.391) homestand yesterday. “If you see me now, you definitely see less movement than in the past and it’s helped a lot. It’s keeping my head still. I’m seeing the ball a lot better.”
If you saw Swisher yesterday, you saw his third home run on the homestand — a second-inning blast that put the Yankees up 2-0 in their eventual 7-5, somebody else (Andy Pettitte) got hurt victory over the Orioles. And you also saw a play by Swisher in right field that helped set the game’s tone.
Orioles shortstop Julio Lugo lined a hit to right center to start the game. Swisher cut it off, holding the shot it to a single. One strikeout later, the Orioles rapped into the first on their fourth inning-ending double plays. Who knows where the inning goes if Lugo’s hit gets by Swisher.
But it’s his offensive approach (.295 average), something for which he credits to death hitting coach Kevin Long, that gives Swisher the biggest sense of relief. Again, there’s a home difference. The last homestand, he was 1-of-19, but said he had good swings, good contact, bad fortune. Last year, he hit 29 homers — just eight in Yankee Stadium, despite the ballpark’s launching pad rep.
“I don’t know [why there was such a disparity],” Swisher said. “Probably the best answer was I was just trying to do too much. You come home, you’re in front of your home crowd, your fans. In Yankee Stadium you really want to step up and I think last year I was really trying to play outside my ability,” Swisher said.
After a woeful 6-of-47 (.128) postseason, he and Long worked in the offseason. Keep it simple. Keep it relaxed. Keep it with less movement.
“That was something [we] worked on. Staying within yourself,” Swisher said. “Every time that bat leaves my shoulder I want to put a good swing on the baseball.”