CHARLESTON, WV – Stephen Alemais spent the offseason doing what Little Leaguers dream about — working on his swing with Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes. Throughout the winter, Alemais posted videos of his training and workouts, which Tim Williams analyzed in a detailed report this March. Alemais sees a lot of himself in Reyes.
“We’re both very contact-oriented, though Reyes is a very fast runner,” he said.
At the tail end of the 2016 season, Alemais got a taste of Low-A ball with the Power, but he struggled at the plate in a league that features a greater reliance on off-speed pitching. In his return to the level, he’s seeing the fruit of his offseason labor. Through the first 16 games, his slash line stands at .262/.314/.477 compared to the .189/.244/.270 he put up through 11 games with the Power in 2016.
POWER
When you’re looking to add pop to your swing, asking the assistance of a 20-year MLB veteran with more than 400 home runs isn’t a bad place to start. In their off-season workouts, Beltran coached Alemais in advanced hitting techniques and prodded the young shortstop to stay back in the box to adjust to off-speed offerings.
“Obviously, Carlos Beltran’s been in the game for a very long time,” Alemais recollected. “So we broke down my swing a little bit and learned how to produce more.”
That emphasis on production comes through two adjustments: the hands and the legs.
First of all, both Beltran and the Pirates have encouraged Alemais to keep both hands on the bat as he drives it through the zone. When he came into professional baseball, he had a tendency to let his top hand fly off the bat in his follow-through. Keeping that top hand on the bat forces the barrel of the bat to stay in the zone longer, which can counteract slight misjudgments in the timing of pitches. This adjustment can be seen below:
Alemais has a greater chance of making some form of contact with the ball thanks to a few more milliseconds during which the ball and bat are traveling through the same plane. (Whether that contact is solid or simply a foul tip depends much more on Alemais’s ability to pick up on the movement and speed of the pitch.)
His swing has also shortened this year, allowing him to drive more balls up the middle. A comparison of the hits in his first 60 at-bats with the Morgantown Black Bears in 2016 and those in his first 60 at-bats with the Power in 2017 reveal that Alemais has developed a greater ability to pull the ball. Also note that this has translated to greater power.
A majority of Alemais’s contact in 2016 went up the first base line, preventing him from using his speed to attempt to leg out infield hits. Many of his singles came on balls between first and second base or bloops to shallow center.
In 2017, however, Alemais has scattered the ball much better. He has also used his bunting ability to force the ball up the third base line, legging out a pair of bunt singles so far. Those singles between first and second have turned into fly balls to the outfield, and it’s only a matter of time before they begin to fall.
“Point of contact is big,” said Alemais. “A lot of times I found myself out in front of balls, and I learned how to let the ball travel a little bit and use my lower half more.”
So far, Alemais has collected four doubles, two triples, and two home runs. Both homers came on April 19 against the Hickory Crawdads.
Power hitting coach Ryan Long, while enjoying the four-baggers, does not think that home run power will become an everyday part of Alemais’s game.
“One thing we talk about is sticking to your identity, and obviously, hitting a home run is a bonus for him,” said Long. “He’s a line drive, all over the field type hitter, and you’re going to run into something sometimes.”
Alemais also recognizes that the power stems from consistent line-drive contact. Instead, he focuses on “bunting for hits, moving guys over, and hitting the ball the other way,” he said. “The home runs are probably going to come last.”
PITCH IDENTIFICATION
Some hitters struggle with the jump from short-season to Low-A ball simply because of the skill of pitchers. Typically in Low-A, pitchers have at least one, if not several, off-speed and breaking pitches they can throw for a strike in a variety of situations. Power manager Wyatt Toregas has seen this in quite a few of the Power players.
“[Pitchers] are not just going to give into you,” he said. “Whereas in college, there’s a lot of giving in. They give in because they don’t want to waste pitches, and they don’t trust themselves.”
Alemais has looked sloppy at times. He likes to chase balls out of the strike zone when he’s behind in the count, and as a result, he has a 16:3 K:BB ratio. He has a fair amount of speed on the base paths so the low walk rate is discouraging. Long thinks this will turn around as the season goes on.
“The more you see, the better you are,” he said. “We’re excited about where all of [the players] are going to be in that area of their game come September 1.”
Alemais himself sees the identification as an extension of his off-season work with Beltran. He explained, “When you’re able to use your legs, your hands will follow.”
There have already been some improvements shown from Alemais in the early part of the season. He has also shown that there are still improvements left to be made, which will be a big focus as the season goes on and he gets more experience with his new approach.
