Ellsbury better with less on his plate
TORONTO - Jacoby Ellsbury obsessed over why his swing produced fewer and fewer hits. He planted himself in front of a film monitor, trying to recapture the form that made him a sensation last fall. His problem, Ellsbury realized, was that obsession.
Roughly two weeks ago, Ellsbury replaced overanalysis with simplicity. He compared his swings from last year and early this season with the ones that led to the plummeting of his batting average. He switched components of his swing, just enough that he felt natural again.
"To the naked eye," Ellsbury said, "you wouldn't even be able to tell."
The results, though, are glaring. Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 12 games in yesterday's 3-0 Red Sox win over Toronto with a 3-for-4 outburst, two doubles and a leadoff triple that bumped his average to .273, its highest mark since June 13.
Ellsbury splashed into the postseason last year as a midseason callup, a terror on the bases and a pest in the batter's box. Now, his summer-long swoon officially over, he may become the force he was last fall.
"I've been feeling a lot more comfortable at that plate," Ellsbury said. "I've been making the necessary adjustments at the plate, but at the same time I'm not overanalyzing. When you start thinking, that takes away from your natural talent. It's a fine line, but I think I've been doing a better job of late."
When Ellsbury studied his batting form from last year and the brunt of this year, he found subtle differences. He reverted to a more open stance and altered the position of his hands. He slightly tweaked how much he moves his hands back to start his swing's momentum, and he adjusted his stride. The changes, small as they were, improved the timing of his swing.
"I'm just a competitive person," Ellsbury said. "I want to maximize my ability. Sometimes, that may play a disadvantage for you. I was looking a little too much at the film."
Ellsbury compiled a highlight tape yesterday, slugging three extra-base hits in one game for the first time in his career. He began the game by lashing the triple to right-center, blazing around the diamond enough to saunter into third. Dustin Pedroia quickly plated Ellsbury with a sacrifice fly.
Ellsbury blasted a double, which Vernon Wells nearly tracked down, to left-center in his next at-bat. He made a wide turn at second but retreated, putting a potential cycle in play. He foiled that with his next at-bat - another stand-up double. ("Not at this point in the season," Ellsbury said when asked about possibly stopping at first to keep the cycle alive.) Ellsbury scored two runs, a testament to the havoc he's capable of causing.
"He disrupts a little bit," Sox left fielder Jason Bay said. "He gets on the bases, sometimes pitchers hurry, they rush. Having him at second or third every time is huge. He was the offense today."
If Ellsbury gets a hit in his next game, he'll match his career-best streak of 13 games, which he set last September. That stretch cemented him as a prominent postseason figure. His surge this season, coupled with his experience, makes him confident he can duplicate last year's success.
"You know what the postseason is going to be like," Ellsbury said. "You know what to expect. It's hard to get here to this point, to have an opportunity to win the AL East. Going through a full season, just kind of how your body feels, [getting] treatment every day. What you do in the cage. That's been the biggest thing, just knowing what to expect and how to prepare yourself for it."
Adam Kilgore can be reached at akilgore@globe.com 