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Ryan O’Hearn has been the very best hitter on an underachieving Baltimore Orioles staff up to now this season. Furthermore, he’s been the most effective hitters within the recreation. The 31-year-old first baseman/outfielder boasts a 185 wRC+, a mark presently topped by solely Aaron Decideand Freddie Freeman. Over 180 plate appearances, O’Hearn has left the yard 9 occasions whereas slashing .340/.428/.558.
He started to bash after leaving Kansas Metropolis, the place he posted a .683 OPS over elements of 5 nondescript seasons with the Royals. He was designated for task and subsequently dealt to the Orioles in alternate for money consideration in January 2023. Baltimore then dodged a bullet. The O’s additionally DFA’d him, solely to see him go unclaimed, permitting them to assign him to their Triple-A roster. Known as as much as the majors two weeks into the 2023 marketing campaign, O’Hearn proceeded to do what he hadn’t carried out along with his previous staff: sq. up baseballs on a constant foundation.
For the reason that begin of the 2023 season, the left-handed-hitting O’Hearn has the best batting common (.286) and on-base share (.346), and the second-highest wRC+ (130) amongst Orioles who’ve come to the plate at the least 250 occasions. Enjoying primarily towards opposite-handed hurlers, O’Hearn has logged 1,042 plate appearances over that span.
How did he go from the waiver wire to laying waste to huge league pitching?
“I feel it’s simply been an evolution of hitting,” O’Hearn advised me over the weekend. “It’s been taking one thing from each hitting coach I’ve had through the years, studying one thing totally different from all of them. After I bought right here in 2023, the three hitting coaches — Cody ashesMatt Borgschulte, and Ryan Fuller — had a plan for me. They confirmed me one thing I used to be doing flawed. It was targeted round my posture. I’d land hunched over, and that was one of many issues we labored on.
“And Hennigan — he was the director of hitting for the Houston Astros — has additionally helped me perceive lots of issues,” added O’Hearn. “I’ve labored with him each offseason for the previous three years. We’ve labored on hitting breaking balls. He taught me what staying linked means. A variety of hitting coaches say, ‘Keep linked,’ however they both know what it means or they don’t clarify it appropriately.”
How would O’Hearn clarify it?
“It’s the gap between the barrel of the bat and my again shoulder; the gap between them (must be) the identical till contact,” he stated to my query. “Take into consideration that. I’m turning with the barrel of my bat and my left shoulder, and the gap stays the identical till contact. Then my fingers launch by way of the ball. That’s staying linked. If the fingers begin to go, that’s not linked.”
Requested if staying quick to the ball is a part of the equation, O’Hearn responded by saying that the often-heard phrase is generic and might imply lots of issues to lots of people. To him, getting the barrel to the ball extra effectively is just a matter of executing what Hennigan — “The primary hitting coach to elucidate it to me and really have it make sense” — taught him.
The teachings discovered have helped him up his contact price. O’Hearn fanned 26.8% of the time throughout his Kansas Metropolis days, and that quantity is simply 17.3% as an Oriole. Improved plate self-discipline has performed an element. O’Hearn’s O-Swing% has declined in latest seasons, whereas his stroll price has gone up.
He has additionally gotten higher versus same-handed pitchers. Together with his previous membership, O’Hearn slashed 169/.244/.257 with a 35 wRC+ over 164 left-on-left plate appearances, whereas with Baltimore, he has a .268/.324/.402 line and a 108 wRC+ throughout 106 PAs. This season particularly stands out. More and more displaying that extra reps versus southpaws are merited, O’Hearn has gone 10-for-29, with simply 4 strikeouts to go along with three free passes.
Bettering his outcomes towards lefties has required no secret method. As a lot as something, it has been his getting extra alternatives to face them, paired with the aforementioned fine-tuning of his stroke. As for the higher plate self-discipline, let’s simply say that he’s continued to mature as a hitter.
“I’m simply getting higher, man,” stated O’Hearn. “Attempting to get higher. Hitting is an infinite search to be good. No person ever masters it. I’m positive should you requested Aaron Decidehe would inform you that there are issues he desires to get higher at. So yeah, simply making an attempt to get higher. Attempting to get just a little smarter, just a little wiser, as I’m going ahead.”
On an Orioles staff that has gone backward, O’Hearn continues to maneuver in the best route. Amid little fanfare, he’s an underrated hitter having a career-best season.
