SURPRISE, Ariz. — When LaMonte Wade Jr. sustained a hamstring harm in Might, he by no means really regained the power to get into his legs upon returning. The harm’s lingering results wasn most noticeable in his stance, forcing Wade to get extra vertical than desired. Wholesome once more, Wade is getting low.
“I’m just trying to be more into my legs,” Wade mentioned. “My legs are feeling good, so let me use them.”
The 31-year-old first baseman arrived at spring coaching with a noticeably totally different stance, one which has him squatting down decrease in comparison with final season. The tweak was prompt by Matt Swope, the baseball head coach on the College of Maryland. Wade has labored with Swope since 2021, crediting Swope with serving to him discover a cleaner, less complicated motion. With an offseason to get wholesome, Wade believes he’s placing himself in a greater place to hit.
Not solely is Wade squatting decrease, however his hand placement is barely decrease as effectively. Wade assessed that his hand placement was inconsistent final season and referred to footage of himself hitting in faculty and in 2021, the season he earned the “Late Night LaMonte” moniker.
“There was a common theme (in those years),” Wade mentioned. “That’s where we ended up putting the hands. That’s where I like them, so that’s where we’re going to go.”
Swope assessed that the tweaks shouldn’t simply assist Wade typically, however with middle-in pitches particularly, a location that has lengthy been a weak spot for Wade. In line with Baseball Savant, Wade has a profession .211 batting averages on pitches center and inside.
“The emphasis was to simply the move a little bit to help with that middle-in pitch, which over the years is where he’s been attacked the most,” Swope mentioned. “I definitely think he can hit that pitch. So, it’s something that we kind of dialed in on more this offseason.”
Wade’s changes have paid dividends up to now this spring. On Tuesday, Wade homered in his first at-bat throughout stay bullpen classes, then drove one other ball off the highest of the right-center area wall later within the day.
“The stance looks good,” mentioned supervisor Bob Melvin. “It means he’s comfortable in his legs and they’re healthy.”
With wholesome legs and modified mechanics, the Giants are hoping Wade can replicate one thing near final 12 months’s pre-injury manufacturing.
Earlier than injuring his hamstring, Wade led the majors with a .470 on-base share in addition to a .426 slugging share over 166 plate appearances, placing collectively a reputable case to make his first All-Star crew. Upon getting back from his harm, Wade posted a .316 on-base share and .351 slugging share over 235 plate appearances.
Total, Wade completed with a .380 on-base share over 401 plate appearances, tied with Jurickson Profar for the eighth-best mark in all of baseball (min. 400 plate appearances). For all of Wade’s on-base excellence, his .381 slugging share was beneath common for the primary base place (.399).
Wade says his legs are feeling good this spring, a lot in order that he floated the concept of sometimes enjoying outfield to Melvin. Even with Jung Hoo Lee returning to the fray, Wade will probably get his alternatives to bat leadoff this season. His on-base acumen is well-known and is efficacious in its personal proper, however further pop could be a boon to San Francisco’s lineup.
Initially Printed: February 22, 2025 at 11:58 AM PST
