BOSTON -- In the midst of one of the worst starts to a season in his career, Joc Pederson has tried just about everything to get himself going at the plate.
But one of the biggest things is what he would’ve probably done anyway. It’s also something he has in common with Rangers’ new hitting coach Bret Boone.
“I change bats a lot, I like bats,” said Pederson, who went 2-for-2 in the Rangers' 6-4 loss Wednesday. “Boonie was talking about when he played, he was getting like six delivered every series. And by the end of the season, he’d have like 200 bats. He knew the ounces and the grains. We just had a detailed talk about bats. It sounds crazy, but, I don't know, it was something really relatable to me and definitely helped having a common ground when building a relationship.”
Pederson has been interested in bats in this way since he was young. He doesn’t stick to one style or anything like that. He’ll try one from a teammate or just order an entirely new batch for himself.
Sometimes a bat just runs out of hits, Pederson explained. When it stops being of use to him, he’ll switch it up.
Last year in Arizona, Pederson didn’t go through that many bats. That’s because they were working for him, as he set career highs in batting average (.275), on-base percentage (.393) and OPS (.908).
This year, he’s been going through bats at a record pace as he tries to find the ones that work for him.
“We have a lot of very mentally stable hitters on this team that don't switch bats,” Pederson joked. “They're consistent, so their bats are all the same. I've related with other people that switched bats a lot and it’s cool to have Boonie to talk about different models and the ones that his teammates use, and stuff like that. No one talks sticks here. It was a fun conversation for me.”
And that is why Pederson is currently using a torpedo bat, which is designed with more wood concentrated in the middle of the length of the bat, instead of at the end like usual.
“Again, I’ve tried just about everything,” Pederson said. “Like I said, baseball is an interesting game. Sometimes the littlest things make the biggest defense difference and free you up and give you the mental freedom to be able to go out there and compete with confidence.”
It’s working for him so far.
Pederson’s past four hits over the past two games have gone: 106.8 mph single off Lucas Giolito, 109.8 mph double off Giolito, 107.4 mph single off Tanner Houck and 111.7 mph double off Houck.
He remained in the middle of the Rangers lineup as manager Bruce Bochy has shuffled it and shuffled it again throughout the club’s offensive struggles. Now, he just needs to keep that going.
“I think I've been hitting some balls hard, and they've been making some plays,” Pederson said. “It's definitely a relief [to get some hits] and nice to contribute to a win [on Wednesday]. I haven't done that much this year, so that part's been really frustrating.”