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He’s trying everything and, when that fails, nothing. He acknowledges that more walks have come in part because he’s grinding out more at-bats out of necessity. But he’s also resistant, the throwback slugger in him wanting to pounce early in counts, pulling himself in opposite directions. He says he feels as good physically this time of year as he’s ever felt, which only adds to the frustration.
It has been a brutal first half for Evan Longoria, a future Hall of Fame candidate who has never struggled like he’s struggled the last season and a half.
He’s trying.
“If I knew the answer, I would’ve already done it. It’s just not going well,” Longoria told KNBR on Friday, before the Giants hosted the Diamondbacks for Game 81 of their season. “Trying to make adjustments, figure things out. But it’s different every day.
“Sometimes the game is really easy and sometimes it’s not. I guess it’s just my job to just show up every day and try to figure something out. Figure out what I can do to change, adjust, get better, do better. Just go from there, hit the reset button every day when something doesn’t work.”
That button has gotten a workout this year. Longoria’s numbers are almost all at the worst of his career, entering play with a .222/.299/.374 slash line with seven home runs in 243 at-bats.
He said his swing has changed slightly nearly every day, tweaks that wouldn’t produce results and thus would get shelved. His approach has been jumbled. The only category he’s improved in has been walks, with more this season (25) than he had all of last year (22) in about half the number of plate appearances.
He was traded from Tampa to be a big bat, a three-time All-Star with 284 career homers. That’s how he still thinks of himself.
“Honestly, I don’t really care about walks,” the 33-year-old said. “I know that on-base percentage is this big system that people care about now. Obviously, being on base is important. But I’ve never come into a season with the goal of walking X amount of times. I’ve always felt like my job as a hitter was to go up there and try to do damage and drive guys in. You can’t really do that with walking.”
It’s been a prolonged downturn for Longoria ever since the offseason trade before last season. He went from a declining but still upper-echelon bat to a liability. The Giants wanted to go for it with a core that was adding the face of the Rays.
It has backfired, Longoria still searching for answers and the Giants soon searching for prospects. He said his struggles have probably led him to work counts more. And yet, that’s not what he thinks is best.
“The one thing that I try not to change is the aggression at the plate,” the third baseman said. “Trying to hunt pitches early in counts and try to do damage. There’s obviously changes I try to make to my swing every day. Timing, drills, all those things are kind of ever-evolving. I think just continuing to try and stay aggressive is the one constant.”
The tweaks and constant have only led, so far, to further slumps. Longoria is 2-for-24 (.083) with no extra-base hits in his past seven games.
Bruce Bochy did not show alarm at Longoria’s nosedive, saying, “He’ll come out of it.” And yet, Longoria was not in the starting lineup against righty Merrill Kelly, replaced by the switch-hitting Pablo Sandoval, who kills right-handers.
“Pablo’s going to get a little bit of time against righties,” Bochy said before the game.
If the Giants’ faith in Longoria has been corroded, it’s bringing the two sides to an awkward point. A rebuilding team owes him $53 million through 2023, at which time he’ll be 36.
Longoria knows something has to change with his bat.
He will try “everything and anything.”