Player’s View: Do Hitters Focus Better in the Late Innings?

Do hitters focus better in the late innings of close games? Once the eighth and ninth roll around, does their mental acuity shift into a new gear?

Human nature suggests it happens. Faced with an impending work deadline, most of us will see our mindset kick into now-or-never mode. On the other hand, we routinely hear players say that every plate appearance matters. If you’re a professional, you’re going to take pride in never giving away an at bat.

I recently ask a cross section of players, managers and coaches — and one mental skills coordinator — for their opinions on the subject. Here is what they had to say.

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Mike Aviles, Tigers infielder: “I’ve never not focused early and then focused later. I’m trying to do the same thing in every at bat. So, I don’t think it’s necessarily that guys focus better in later innings. I think they’re more loose. Your baseball movements over those first seven innings have put you in a comfort zone. You feel good and are better able to focus on the situation.”

Gregor Blanco, Giants outfielder: “Every at bat matters. In the beginning of the game, or later in the game, they matter. It might be that you start the game kind of cold and then you get warmer with every at-bat. You see more pitches, you swing more, you get warm late in the game. You really want to stay the same approach every time.”

Lorenzo Cain, Royals outfielder: “The situation dictates a lot. If it’s a part of the game where you need to drive in runs, you’re going to lock in that way. At the same time, just seeing pitches over and over helps a lot. The more you face a guy, the more comfortable you get. I guess your focus does raise a little bit, but a lot of it is having seen pitches over and over.”

Chris Coghlan, Athletics infielder/outfielder: “First, I think every at bat matters. If you don’t bring it every at bat, you’re going to be in trouble. They all count. But it is easier to lock it in when you have a high-leverage situation. That’s a fact.

“It’s hard to stay focused and locked in for every at bat, every pitch, for 162 games. Being able to stay focused is an ability. It’s a gift that the great players have. I think everybody in The Show can get up there in a high-leverage situation and be locked in.”

Sean Doolittle, Athletics reliever: “Hitters know what I’m trying to do. They know I’m going to try and attack with the fastball, so regardless of the situation, they are going up there swinging as they normally would. Sometimes, late in games, they might try to see one, but I don’t notice much. Situations mean a difference in approach — they might not try to go big fly, just stay really short and get you that way. I don’t really a notice a difference in focus depending on the inning.”

Brett Gardner, Yankees outfielder: “I’d like to think that I have the same level of focus all game long. The early at bats are just as important as the later ones. But once you get into the late innings and it’s a close game, each bat has the feel of being more valuable. It’s like the fourth quarter of a football game. From the fans to the media, right down to the on-field action, things are put under more of a microscope.”

AJ Hinch, Houston Astros manager: “As the game evolves, the concentration and focus do get enhanced a little bit. I think the good teams, the elite teams, find a way to do that from the first out on. But when you’re running out of outs, and the game is close… especially in certain ballparks. An at bat in the seventh inning, at a packed Fenway Park, is different than (an at bat) in a ballpark that has 12,000 fans. It just is. Hitters and pitchers are paid to find that focus and concentration, but the environment absolutely impacts the mental capacity of a player.”

Jason Kipnis, Indians infielder: ‘I don’t think it’s kicking it into a new gear. I don’t think that’s the right way of putting it. It’s more that you already have a couple of at bats under your belt by then. Your swing is starting to feel better and you’re starting to be more in tune. It’s not like the first pitch you’re seeing, where you’re trying to figure out what you feel like.”

Torey Lovullo, Red Sox bench coach: “I think the best players can go in and out of those moments and perform at a peak level. But when you go between those white lines at 7 o’clock, you should be ready to be at your highest level. In the first inning, with a runner in scoring position, a batter should be locked in.

“There’s an extra component here. When it’s late in the game and you’ve been on the field for a couple of hours, you’re probably a little mentally fatigued. Maybe you need to focus a little more.”

JD Martinez, Tigers outfielder: “Your hardest at bats are the first ones of the day, because you don’t know where your timing is. By the later innings, you know where you’re at. It also depends on the situation. If you have guys on base, you might be more focused because more is on the line.”

Brian McCann, Yankees catcher: “Certain situations get your game on line. That’s just human nature. It’s different in the first inning, for sure. Not that you’ve giving at bats away, but it’s a long season. You’re getting 650 at bats and you learn how to keep your emotions in check.”

Brad Mills, Indians bench coach: “When you get down near the end, in a close game, everybody senses the urgency. Any time we feel that way, our senses seem to be a little keener. So I don’t disagree with that at all. Everything gets a little more intense. Fans start getting into it more and it’s the same with players. If it’s a key situation, your body gets fired up to answer that bell.

“Guys are also able to build off the at bats they had earlier in the game. That’s why a good pinch hitter is like gold. He’s coming off the bench and giving you a good quality at bat after sitting around cold, without having had a chance to make adjustments. He has to get after it right away.”

Hunter Pence, Giants outfielder: “What’s better said is that the emotions change depending on how close the game is and, as it gets later in the game, a lot of times its close, and pretty important. There’s definitely an emotional difference between an at-bat when the game’s out of hand and the first at bat of a game, or the ninth inning in a one-run game. The emotions, the circumstances, the game plans are totally different. There’s no fighting it. You can understand it or not understand it. The goal is being the the best you can be, and emotions do play a factor in the game, so if you can understand them and use them to the best of your ability, that’s the goal. There’s no answer. I don’t know the way, but I do know the emotions are different.”

Salvador Perez, Royals catcher: “I think that happens. Not that I like it. We want to be concentrating from the first at bat to the last at bat. But it’s hard. Not every game is like the playoffs. With a 10-run difference, it’s not the same feeling as the seventh, eighth, ninth inning of a close game, where everyone starts to go, ‘OK, let’s go.’

“I think it’s human nature. When you see that scoreboard and you’re winning by ten runs, it’s more of just wanting to get the game finished. I’s normal that sometimes we lose our concentration. We’re not perfect.”

Josh Reddick, Athletics outfielder: “I try not to change. I don’t feel the need to try harder in any particular spot, because you’re going to make it that much harder on yourself if you’re trying to do too much. I used to be a guy that if we were down one against the closer, I would just go in there and try to hit a home run, but now that’s not the case, I look for a pitch I’m ready for and hit it hard. Not try to overanalyze and do too many things.”

Bob Tewksbury, Red Sox mental skills coordinator (and former MLB pitcher): “I think a young player can be more result-focused when it becomes late in the game. An older, veteran player isn’t as focused on his last results, because he knows he can play. A younger player’s confidence in his ability to perform in clutch situations comes in part from prior at bats. If he’s 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, he’s probably not focusing on more concentration — he’s focusing on ‘I’ve got to get a hit.’ That increases his anxiety, which is counterintuitive to getting a hit.

“Great players live for those situations. They may not get a hit, but they’re not overwhelmed by the situation. I think their focus does increase, because they know it’s not about the result; it’s about the process and having a quality at bat.”

Ned Yost, Royals manager: “Certain hitters… Hoss (Eric Hosmer) focuses from the first pitch on. It’s just an individual thing. I don’t think you can say that every hitter does that. But there are times where guys are focusing better. Sometimes it’s early in the game and sometimes it’s late. There’s no rhyme or reason to it, it’s just that guys can be locked in one day and have trouble seeing the ball the next day.

“I see guys get distracted from time to time. Maybe there was a bad call from the umpire where they knew it’s a ball and it was called a strike. But in terms of guys going up there and just not focusing… I don’t see that.”

Chris Young, Red Sox outfielder: “That’s not the plan. It may apply to some guys, but the goal is to be focused from the very first pitch, not to wait until later in the game. Does it happen from adrenaline flow? Maybe a little bit. There’s more adrenaline flowing in the ninth inning with two on and two out than there is in the first inning with nobody on. But personally, I would hope I can be just as locked in in the first inning as I am in the ninth.”

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Thanks to Eno Sarris for collecting quotes from Blanco, Doolittle, Reddick, and Pence.