SEATTLE — Check the calendar. July? Then Seattle Mariners outfielder Dustin Ackley must be heating up.
Yep, on cue, Ackley is showing signs of repeating his career-long pattern of surging in the season’s second half. He entered Saturday with 12 hits in 30 at-bats since June 21.
His average jumped from .184 to .222 in that span.
“It’s just one of those things,” Ackley said. “It’s weird. I can’t really explain it. I wish I could explain it. It seems like every year’s been different, though, as far as how things have happened.”
The issue this year, Ackley said, was adjusting to his role as a part-time player for the first time in his career.
“That was definitely a tough thing,” he admitted. “You come to the park, and you’re feeling good, and you’re not in there. I think that can wear on you if you let it. I think I kind of let that get the best of me early on.
“As soon as I started to realize, ‘You know what? I can only control what I can control,’ I started coming in here and just gave the best at-bats I can. That’s when it started to roll for me.”
Ackley began his turnaround in June after batting .177 over his first 43 games. He has 18 hits in 58 at-bats since May 30, which translates to a .310 average.
This is nothing new.
A year ago, Ackley batted .214 through June and .274 thereafter. In 2013, he was at .194 through July 5, and .301 thereafter.
For his career, Ackley has a .229/.294/.337 slash (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) prior to the All-Star break. Thereafter, it jumps to .259/.321/.400.
“I’ve told you,” manager Lloyd McClendon said, “he’s a second-half player. He’s starting to come on. Nothing looks different other than the results. He’s a little bit more aggressive.
“It leaves you scratching your head sometimes. Right now, he’s swinging the bat pretty well.”
Ackley didn’t start Saturday against Angels lefty C.J. Wilson and might not start Sunday when the Mariners face another lefty in Andrew Heaney. Earlier in the year, Ackley contends, that could send him into a funk.
“All you can do is sit there and think and think and think,” he said. “I think I started thinking about things that I shouldn’t have. It probably took my mind away from things I should have been thinking about.
“You need to take all of that clutter out of your mind. I’m sure that’s the way it is with everybody. You can’t have more than one thought up there: Just seeing it and hitting it.
“If you have more than one thought, you’re kind of in a world of hurt.”
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