DJ LeMahieu: A Quiet Transformation in Colorado

Heading into the 2012 season, Baseball America wrote of DJ LeMahieu, “Most scouts see him as a singles hitter who doesn’t provide enough beyond his batting average.” BA added that “his fringy speed and quickness don’t fit at second base.”

The latter turned out to be patently false. The 27-year-old won a Gold Glove at second base with the Rockies in 2014, and he remains a solid defender. He doesn’t look like a middle infielder — LeMahieu is 6-foot-4 — but his plus-2 DRS over the last two years puts him solidly in the gets-the-job-done category.

From an offensive standpoint, the singles-hitter label has a grain of truth to it. Despite calling Coors Field home, LeMahieu doesn’t leave the yard very often. Extra-base hits aren’t his forte (last night’s home run and pair of doubles notwithstanding). And while he’ll accept a free pass — his walk rate is a respectable 8.3% — no one is about to compare him to Eddie Yost.

LeMahieu stepped up his game last season by embracing his true identity. The result has been a .305/.362/.406 slash line over his last 812 plate appearances.

“I became a player who knew what his strengths were and what his weaknesses were,” LeMahieu told me. “Last year, I decided to strengthen my strengths as much as I could. I hit the ball to the other side of the field well — I hit the ball oppo — and I don’t hit for a ton of power. In order to succeed, to be at my best, that’s what I need to do.”

It’s hard to argue with the results. LeMahieu’s line-drive (29.3% this year) and hard-contact (33.8%) rates have gone up along with his higher percentage (40.3%) of balls hit the other way.

The introverted infielder wasn’t very expansive with his answer when I asked if a mechanical adjustment was involved in the transformation. All he shared was, “I just tried to make sure I don’t get outside of myself.”

Colorado hitting coach Blake Doyle had more to offer on the subject.

“We did a few things to simplify his approach,” said Doyle. “We had him cut down the plate, so that he wasn’t trying to cover all 17 inches. At this level, you need to pick a side, pick an area, until you get to two strikes. He’s also staying inside the ball with his hands. He’s letting the ball travel more, and he has more control of the club head now that there’s less movement with his body.

“He’s not a leg-kick guy. There were times he was kicking a little bit and his swing was getting a little too long. We cut down on that movement. When you’re his size, people expect you to hit the long ball. That’s not what he does well. We talked about it, and DJ bought into being someone who stays inside the ball. That’s who he is.”

He’s also a productive big-leaguer, which was far from a given when the Cubs drafted him 79th overall out of LSU in 2009. The Detroit-area native hit .344 as a collegian, but he was a bit of a square peg in a round hole due to his aforementioned profile. Chicago wasn’t all that bullish on his future, as they swapped him to Colorado two years later for a pair of spare parts.

LeMahieu admits there was no Plan B had he stalled in the minors.

“I was hoping I was going to get here, and that I would stay once I did,” said LeMahieu. “But you never know. The big leagues were my only goal and if I didn’t make it, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I put all my eggs in that one basket, so I guess I kind of had to make it.”

Make it he did. LeMahieu was a National League All-Star last year and this season he’s hitting 318/.376/.465. Not bad for a singles hitter who didn’t project as a middle infielder.





David Laurila grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and now writes about baseball from his home in Cambridge, Mass. He authored the Prospectus Q&A series at Baseball Prospectus from December 2006-May 2011 before being claimed off waivers by FanGraphs. He can be followed on Twitter @DavidLaurilaQA.

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buckner_for_hall
7 years ago

thats Theos worst trade with Cubs so far – whats Ian Stewart up to these days ?