LOS ANGELES — Catcher Yasmani Grandal was as much of an offensive liability in his first month with the Los Angeles Dodgers as he is an offensive powerhouse now.
Grandal, acquired in December in a five-player trade that sent outfielder Matt Kemp to the San Diego Padres, was batting only .188 (6-for-32) in his first 10 games with one homer and two RBIs. His average fell to .167 as of April 23.
The 26-year-old Cuba native changed his mentality at the plate.
“I needed to be more aggressive and start swinging,” Grandal said. “If I don’t swing, I don’t hit the ball. Ever since I’ve been more aggressive, I’ve been hitting the ball and finding holes.”
Some of those balls also have become souvenirs for fans in the outfield stands.
Grandal twice provided such souvenirs Sunday night, when he hit two home runs to lead the Dodgers’ 10-2 rout of the San Francisco Giants.
Since April 23, Grandal is batting .306 (41-for-134) with nine homers and 24 RBIs as the result of his more aggressive approach.
“It helped me getting my swing going,” he said. “I think that’s why I started going real good.”
The aggressive approach involves more than swinging early.
“It’s basically looking for your location and looking for a pitch you can do damage on,” he said. “A lot of guys go up there and, at some point, give up an at-bat. But I make sure I get those three strikes.”
Grandal also needed an inflamed AC joint to heal so he could recover his power.
“Every time I hit a ball, I was hitting it straight at people,” he said. “I was talking to guys and they said it was a matter of me hitting the ball two inches up.
“That’s what happened. As soon as I got healthy and I started hitting the ball better, the ball started carrying and carrying. I just took off.”