After another chilly April, Tigers’ Colt Keith seems poised to bloom in May once again

ANAHEIM, Calif.

It annoys him, frankly.

And if he knew why it happens every year, hed certainly take the necessary measures to stop it.Every season of my career, the Tigers Colt Keith said Wednesday after he slugged a two-run homer that helped kickstart the Tigers 7-4 win in the season finale in Houston.

Every season.

All through the minor leagues, Ive never had a good April.

I was really trying to get rid of that pattern this year.He didnt.

What he can say, though, is that this March-April was better than last March-April.Related ArticlesColt Keith, Javier Baez break through as Tigers salvage series finale vs.

AstrosFor Tigers Skubal, playing for Team USA might be logistically unattainableAltuve and Walker each hit a 2-run homer to help the Astros beat the Tigers 8-5Javier Baez sparks offense, Tarik Skubal dazzles as Tigers sweep OriolesGreenes home run paces Tigers to doubleheader sweep over OriolesKeith woke up on May 1, 2024, slashing .154/.222/.165, before breaking out with .343 average and a .493 slug last May.He woke up on Thursday, May 1, slashing .181/.330/.250.

And the 406-foot, pull-side homer Wednesday seemed to be an encouraging omen for another hot month.I am seeing it well, Keith said.

Just keep that going.

Keep putting out good effort, stay healthy and lets see what happens.Since spring training, Keith has been working to unlock his pull-side power.

Hes pulling the ball just 25% of the time and pulling it in the air even less (13.5%).But he thinks he may have found a key.Ive been making a bunch of adjustments, he said.

And I think lately, the biggest one is trying to get my contact point a little more out front.Keith said he reviewed some hitting charts from last year when he was productively driving the ball to both gaps more regularly.

He compared where his contact point is now to where it was then and noticed it was two inches behind.That certainly explains his difficulty pulling the ball in the air.Ive really been trying to beat the fastball to that spot (out front), he said.

And Ive been able to see the ball better since then.

I need to keep that going.

We all know baseball is up and down, and I dont want to jinx it.But Im seeing it good.Zach McKinstry made a similar adjustment last season.

He, too, got into a rut where he was hitting a lot of soft fly balls to left field.

He found a way to get his barrel more out front where he could drive the ball more frequently.Colt is going to get untracked, manager AJ Hinch said.

This is a carbon copy of last season, except hes hitting the ball a little bit better than he was at this point last season.

Meaning hes hitting it hard, hes hitting it to all areas of the field.The pull homer is great for his confidence.

His at-bats have been sporadic, with a little less playing time.

But I think one thing we can rely on is Colt is going to give us a good at-bat.Because of the low damage numbers thus far, Keiths .330 on-base average and overall outstanding plate discipline gets overlooked.

His 18.2% walk rate ranks in the top 92 percentile in baseball.He doesnt chase (21%) and he doesnt whiff a lot (23.4%).Now, if the damage-to-contact ratio picks up like it did last May, Hinch is going to have some interesting decisions to make when he writes out the lineup.The Tigers have been nursing outfielder Kerry Carpenter through some tightness in his right hamstring, which kept him occupying the DH spot against right-handed starting pitchers during the last homestand.

With a smaller left field in Houston, Carpenter got a couple of starts in the outfield.Keith moved into the DH spot in those games.

Keith played first base on Wednesday when Hinch gave Spencer Torkelson a rare start off.But thats how its been for Keith this season.

With Gleyber Torres and Torkelson getting the bulk of the starts on the right side of the infield, its get in where he can fit in.But, as Hinch has said, if he starts heating up at the plate, he will get in more often.It was really good to get back in the positive column for the team, Keith said.

Its been a while since I hit a homer.

So it feels really good..

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