Priday's slump could end soon
Published March 20, 2007
This weekend could be the beginning of the end for junior Jacob Priday. The end, that is, of his hitting slump.
Priday led the team in slugging percentage, home runs and RBIs last season but has yet to be the dominant force he was in the Tigers lineup last year, batting .233 this season.
But after the Tigers' last home stand, that all could change.
Priday's resurgence began on Wednesday against Saint Louis, when he went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Prior to that game, Priday was batting .182. The next night against Western Illinois, Priday collected one hit in three at bats. It wasn't much, but it was something to build on.
"I'm starting to see the ball a lot better this last week," Priday said. "Not a whole lot is different, I'm just trying to slow things down."
Priday was 1-for-3 with an RBI against Cleveland State on Friday and was hitless on Saturday, but the final game Sunday could be the end of the slump. Priday went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, and coach Tim Jamieson said he saw improvement.
"I think he's more confident," Jamieson said. "He's seeing the ball better and doing things right at the plate. Hopefully this will lead to a long-term hot streak."
Teammate Evan Frey knows what it feels like to be in a slump and said he is confident Priday will return to form.
"It's brutal," Frey said. "Everything you do, you feel terrible up there. Once you start getting good at bats, you start to feel a lot better at the plate. He's going to be fine."
Priday spent the summer recovering from labrum surgery, which kept him out of summer baseball. Priday also sat out of the Fall World Series, making the start of the 2007 season the first time he's played in a long time.
"I was used to playing out there every day," Priday said. "It's not an excuse, it's just getting the back strong and getting that swing back from not playing all summer. It's been kind of tough, but there's no excuse for it."
At the beginning of the season, Priday was not medically cleared to play in the outfield and could only designate hit for the Tigers.
Jamieson moved Priday to play left field in an attempt to get his mind off his hitting. Jamieson said while playing designated hitter, Priday had three innings to sit around and think about his last at bat and what he didn't do right, whereas playing left field took his mind off of his offensive struggles.
Jamieson found an interesting correlation between Priday's performance at the plate and the position he was playing.
"He played left field (Sunday) and he swung the bat good," Jamieson said. "He DHed (Saturday) and didn't swing the bat. So there is a little bit of a tie to that. That's something we'll have to look at come conference time."
This raises the question of where Priday will play. Putting Priday in left field will sacrifice superior defense in the outfield for his bat.
Priday wasn't a left fielder until this year, and though he said he feels comfortable in left, he has some competition. Freshmen Aaron Senne is a better defensive left fielder, but the potential in Priday's bat might be worth it.
"What you'd like to do is have him be good enough defensively to keep him out there for seven or eight innings," Jamieson said. "Then (you) put your better defensive player out there in the eight and ninth innings."