© Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
SAN FRANCISCO – Coming into Sunday’s 3-2 matinee loss against the Colorado Rockies, Chris Shaw was 1-for-22. He’d struck out 13 times, was falling behind in counts and swinging and missing at bad pitches. He hadn’t picked up a hit in his last 15 at-bats.
Then today, Shaw went 2-for-4 with two singles, one RBI, a groundout and one massive pop fly. Most notably, he didn’t strike out, never fell behind 0-2 and dropped behind 1-2 just once.
Despite what Shaw called a “baptism by flame” – the first three pitchers he faced were Steven Matz, Zach Wheeler and Noah Syndergaard of the New York Mets – and a series of hard lessons at the plate, he said he’s just happy to be in the big leagues.
“I’ve gone 7-for-80 before,” Shaw said. “I don’t really sweat this type of stuff. It’s such a small sample that I’m just happy to be able to be getting my feet wet and have the opportunity.”
That slump was with the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels, in what was “a miserable July,” Shaw said. He went 6-for-67 from July 5 to the 27th in July of 2016.
But the experience of those minor-league struggles and Shaw’s attitude toward them are part of what gives Bruce Bochy so much confidence in Shaw. That, and of course, his absurd power-hitting potential combined with consistent work Bochy said he’s put in off the field.
“He’s got big power, he just missed that one,” Bochy said of Shaw’s final at-bat – a towering fly to left field that saw David Dahl struggling to track it down. “He was a lot more relaxed today.”
Maybe the biggest difference between today and his previous starts was Shaw’s timing at the plate, an area he said he has been working on.
“I think the biggest thing for me that I’ve focused on is starting earlier,” Shaw said. “When I start early, I create a lot more time for myself to decide whether or not it’s a pitch I want to go after. I think the past couple of days, it’s been really helpful as far as not swinging at the ball an inch out of the zone, even the ones that kind of clip the zone that aren’t something you want to hit unless there are two strikes.”
Whether Shaw slumps or breaks out, he said Bochy has encouraged him to avoid changing who he is at the plate.
“We had a conversation along the lines of ‘don’t try to vary from who you are as a hitter’ and go up there and try and hit the crap out of the ball,” Shaw said.