Putting his foot down

Ever since his days at North Carolina State, Bates started his swing with a high leg kick. The kick served as a timing mechanism, but he had realized it led to inconsistencies, which pitchers exposed with increasing ease as Bates moved up in the Sox' minor league system.

In Arizona, Bates resolved to simplify his swing and eliminate the leg kick. Bates realized changing his swing at first would be awkward and largely unsuccessful. He worried about what coaches might think, but went forward with the change.

"I knew I had to take maybe a step back to take two steps forward," he said.

Those have been a couple of big steps. Bates has been Double A Portland's best hitter this year. He ranks second in the Eastern League with a .345 batting average, and also leads the Sea Dogs in home runs (7) and RBIs (38). His .932 OPS ranks seventh in the league, for which Bates is the reigning player of the week, an award he won twice in May.

Bates has played in Double A for parts of three seasons, exactly 200 games. His rapid improvement this season makes him a candidate for promotion to Triple A Pawtucket. "Obviously, if there was a spot available, he might be there now," said director of player development Mike Hazen.

The Red Sox selected Bates, 25, in the third round of the 2006 draft, and he moved through the system quickly. He blasted four home runs in one game with Single A Lancaster in 2007, and landed with Portland for the final 27 games of that season.

And then his ascension halted. Through 2008, when he batted .276 with 11 home runs, Bates continued using his leg kick; it had always worked, so why not? As the year wore, he felt himself leveling off. A righthanded batter, Bates hit the ball well to the opposite field, but pitchers took advantage of his leg kick by throwing inside.

"The book on him is to pound him in," Portland manager Arnie Beyeler said - so much so that, earlier this season, Bates set a Sea Dogs record for hit by pitches with 29. In Lancaster, he could afford to wait for a mistake over the plate. In Portland, opponents could stifle him more consistently.

"The swing was always there," said Sox minor league hitting coordinator Victor Rodriguez. "By eliminating the leg kick, the swing that he always had is complete. He had success. You don't want to mess with a kid who's having success. Last year, he went back to Double A even though he didn't have a bad year, he wasn't consistent. The higher he went, the more trouble he had with the leg kick."

Once Bates reported for the Arizona Fall League, he and Rodriguez discussed eliminating the leg kick. "Aaron, I never talk to you about hands and your swing," Rodriguez told Bates. "Eventually, I think we might have to eliminate the leg kick."

Bates agreed, but he knew it would take a temporary sacrifice. Overhauling the lower half of his swing, Bates went 5 for 25 with 14 strikeouts during the fall. He would return to the apartment he shared with fellow Sox minor leaguers T.J. Large and Josh Reddick and share his disappointment, but he never went back to using the leg kick.

"When you make a change like that, you have to really believe in it and stick with it," Rodriguez said. "Kids his age, they look more for the results. He believed in the process."

"It was hard," Bates said. "You want to make an impression out there, and I'm getting blown away by fastballs 89, 90, just going right by me. But I had to see the big picture. I just had to trust the fact that I was doing the right thing and knew that it was going to be good for the long haul. I could go out there and hit with [the leg kick] and maybe do pretty good. What was that going to help me for this year?"

After he spent a month in Arizona, Bates played winter ball in Puerto Rico. Bates absorbed from his manager, former major leaguer Eduardo Perez, and major league players who dotted the roster. He impressed Rodriguez in spring training.

"From Day 1, he eliminated the leg kick and never looked back," Rodriguez said. "Never. Now he looks at video with the leg kick and says, 'What was that? Oh, my goodness.' "

With two weeks remaining in spring training, Hazen approached Bates about trying left field. Bates had never played the outfield, but Lars Anderson was going to play first base, and the Red Sox wanted Bates in the lineup every day. Bates still takes grounders at first, and he is gaining comfort in the outfield.

"The more positions that Aaron Bates can play in the field," Hazen said, "the more opportunity he's going to have in the big leagues."

Bates notices the difference in his swing before games. He can take 20 swings off a tee and feel ready to play. Before, he needed 50 or so during batting practice to perfect his timing.

Now, Bates punishes pitchers who pound him inside by pulling the ball, and he can still hit for power to right. He knows he made the right decision last fall.

"When you have success," Rodriguez said, "it's easier to believe."