Matt Gorski: A More Consistent Swing and 17 Home Runs Later…

Pirates outfield prospect Matt Gorski made the most of returning to High-A Greensboro.

Gorski capped off an eight home run week with a three home run game on Sunday, including a walk-off shot that won the game for Greensboro. It was also his last at-bat as a Grasshopper, with Gorski getting promoted to Altoona after the game.

So, what has been to the key to the great start?

“I think it’s just a lot of confidence. Confidence and comfortability. To start the year, obviously coming back here I knew the expectations for me,” Gorski told Pirates Prospects. “It was easy to adjust to this period again.”

The second rounder from 2019 has a lot of tools that get the attention of scouts. It has always been a matter of putting it all together.

Gorski struck out 31.1% of the time, while drawing walks just 8.4% of his plate appearances in 2021. The swing-and-miss wasn’t giving him an opportunity to unlock that raw power that so many raved about.

“The raw power has always been there, but you can’t show it unless you hit the ball,” Gorski said. “That was my issue. I was a big swing and miss guy. I was a big strikeout guy. This year I just really wanted to cut down on that.”

While he admits he still has room for improvement in the swing and miss category, he’s got that strikeout rate down to 26.7% and has his walks up to 11.6%, something he again credits to comfortability.

In the video above, you can see some of where he gets anxious and starts to overswing again in some of his highlights from earlier this season, especially with runners on base. Gorski goes back to swinging for the fences and gets caught missing a few times in key spots.

For the most part, Gorski has transformed himself into a much better hitter, due in part to more consistency with his swing.

“You see a much more stable release pattern, meaning through impact the bat isn’t as vertical. The barrel doesn’t roll over as much,” said Greensboro Manager Callix Crabbe. “He’s also been much better with his lead leg stabilization. Essentially, how his front leg impacts the ground, and not extending too early.”

The walk-off home run from @matthew_gorski7 after already hitting 2 earlier. Oh yeah, it was the first pitch he saw! pic.twitter.com/7vQ9USn2Sg

— Greensboro Grasshoppers (@GSOHoppers) May 22, 2022

Double-A and Altoona will be the big test of how far his swing has progressed, but Gorski isn’t looking at it that way.

“The focus going forward is to just try and stay present,” said Gorski. “You can always think about moving up, you can always think about the next step. Just trying to stay present, trying to say ‘What’s the next step?’ and the next step is today’s game.”