On Sept. 27, 2015, the world was supposed to end. A rare blood moon appeared in the sky, causing many to theorize that an asteroid was hurling toward Earth at a rate that would wipe out life as we know it. This total lunar eclipse was supposed to be the fulfillment of a prophecy.
Well, the blood moon did not signal the end of the world, but it did announce the start of a 228-day spiral for Yankees third baseman Chase Headley. Entering Thursday, Headley had not touched second base in a major-league game since the he doubled to right off White Sox reliever Dainel Webb in the eighth inning of a 6-1 win on that day. In between, he spent 111 at-bats trying to figure out how to get back.
“It’s been pretty crummy for a while, to be honest,” Headley said.
Then, in the second inning against the Royals, it finally happened. Headley flipped a four-seamer at 93 mph from Ian Kennedy out to left field and snuck it over the wall for a two-run homer to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. It was the culmination of a long effort to regain the same swing that earned him a fifth-place vote in 2012’s NL MVP voting.
“My swing works,” he said hours after his first home run since Sept. 12. “I’ve seen it work, I know that it works, I’ve just got to have my swing and I haven’t had it.”
Well, with just one cut, it seems that Chase’s stroke has found its way back to him.
Aside from the fact that Headley’s first extra-base hit of the season came on a home run, it was special because of the pitch he did it on. From the left side, Headley had not hit one outside fastball all season in seven tries, which is something he’s normally pretty good at.
As you can see, belt-high pitches on the outside part of the plate have been ripe for Headley to hit over the past year.
Outside of a ball grooved down the middle, or something down and in, there’s no pitch he likes hitting more.
This is no fluke. Headley didn’t just run into a fastball down the middle — he found his pitch, and made solid contact. It all comes back to an an adjustment he made, and a pledge to take more “aggressive” swings.
“I was kind of blocking myself off,” he said. “I finally was able to find something to help me clear my hands, get my hands out in front of me, and once you do that, you don’t have to think about where the ball’s going or where you’re trying to hit it, you just let it go.”
Lo and behold, that’s precisely what he did on Thursday. He threw his hands out, let his bat do the work, and wound up with a 96 mph strike to left, of all places.. His upper body was noticeably looser than it’s been in recent weeks, and his exit velocity jumped up to a level he hasn’t reached many times this season.
Just two days prior to the homer, MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds did a good job pointing out how, exactly, he was “blocking himself off,” as Headley called it.
Since sitting out a couple of games last week, Headley’s approach seems to have changed, and so have his swings. He’s on the brink of being himself again, and the greatest evidence of this is just how he hit his homer on Thursday.
Photo: Andy Marlin / USA Today Sports; Video: MLB.com