What has impressed Mariners most about rookie sensation Kyle Lewis? He stays in the moment
What has impressed Mariners manager Scott Servais most about standout rookie center fielder Kyle Lewis?
“I think his ability to kind of stay in the moment,” Servais said. “He doesn’t get too far ahead or look behind at what’s happened.”
Take Sunday game against the A’s at T-Mobile Park for example. Lewis was hitless in his first three plate appearances, with two swinging strikeouts and a groundout to first.
The Mariners were trailing 3-1 in the eighth inning against an Oakland bullpen that has the lowest collective ERA in the American League. Lewis could have rushed to swing at the first 88 mph fastball from veteran A’s reliever Yusmeiro Petit, but he let it pass.
Offered a nearly identical pitch a moment later, Lewis sent it soaring 420 feet beyond the wall in center with an exit velocity of 107 mph, per Statcast, for his third home run of the season.
It was the only run Oakland’s bullpen had allowed in the first three games of the four-game series.
“I wanted to see one (pitch),” Lewis said. “Late in the game, I didn’t want to rush, try to do too much early in the count. It was late in the game, so I wanted to try to get one over the middle of the plate. He left a fastball over the middle of the plate I was able to get the barrel to.
“I felt like I had been over-swinging throughout the day, so I just tried to keep it short, keep it simple.”
Lewis’ third homer of the season — and first since he hit homers in back-to-back games against the Astros to open the season — was the final run Seattle managed in the loss, but again displayed what the Mairners have been raving about this season.
“They made some good pitches against him, he was a little off, but kind of put that aside to walk up there, have a really good at-bat, hit the tar out of the last one to kind of keep it rolling,” Servais said. “This game, at this level, and all of the information everybody has about you, teams are quickly making adjustments to try to figure him out.
“That’s the kind of start he’s gotten off to, and that’s the kind of player he’s going to be. That’s what impressed me most about Kyle is he is in the moment as much as any player we have.”
None of these opposing pitchers seem to have figured out Lewis yet.
His homer Sunday extended his hitting streak to 10 games, and he entered Monday’s finale against the A’s tied for the longest streak in the majors this season with Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson.
His 17 hits and six multi-hit games this season led the majors entering Monday, and his .425 batting average — he’s 17-for-40 to start after logging just 75 plate appearances in the big leagues last September — ranked fifth.
Not that Lewis has kept track of any of this. He said last week all he’s trying to do each time he steps up to bat is remain patient and find hittable pitches.
“I don’t really think about streaks,” Lewis said following his sixth consecutive multi-hit game Friday. “I just try to think about games and at-bats. Streaks happen just as a result. I don’t know how long that will last. I don’t even have a goal of how long that’s supposed to last. I didn’t even know that existed until just now.
“It’s just a thing of getting in that box and trying to make things happen, trying to slow the game down and get pitches I can hit.”
He’s beginning to join impressive company. He is only the sixth American League hitter since 2007 with at least 17 homers and three home runs through the first 10 games of the season. The five others to do this the past 14 seasons? Salvador Perez, Manny Machado, Derek Jeter, Miguel Cabrera and Ian Kinsler.
“He’s adjusted really well,” Servais said last week. “He’s very in tune to the game and what they’re doing to him throughout the game, so even if he has a couple bad at-bats early in the game … he recognizes it early on, makes adjustments and is getting really good results.
“I mean, it seems like every time he hits the ball it’s a hit.”
Even as opposing pitchers have tried to find weaknesses at the plate, Lewis hasn’t really flinched.
“I think it’s flipping around,” he said. “They’re trying different things right now. I’m just trying not to follow the pitchers around, and just stay with what I want to do, and stay with my approach as much as I can.
“You definitely notice a difference throughout a series. As a series develops, they try to attack differently, but I just try to stay with what I know how to do.”
Staying focused on getting a pitch to hit, having patience at the plate, and not being afraid to let the count get deep is what he attributes his hot start to. He’s trying not to be jumpy or antsy in the batter’s box, or rush to get hits, and that’s helped them keep coming.
“It’s kind of getting me in a better rhythm at the plate,” he said.
Servais prophesied after the Mariners’ season opener in Houston that Lewis — who hit a rocket of a homer off Justin Verlander — was gearing up for a big season with Seattle.
“He’s got a lot of ability,” Servais said then. “He’s got a great head on his shoulders. Great to see him hit the ball like he did.
“That was a bomb.”
The first of what seems to be many more to come.
