Process, patience pay off as Thomas (4 hits) ends 0-fer

PHOENIX — Through the primary eight video games of the season, D-backs outfielder Alek Thomas would present up on the ballpark in a very good temper. He was assured that this was going to be the day that he would get that first hit of the season.

And seemingly each time he got here to the plate, he would put collectively a very good at-bat. A look at his Baseball Savant web page confirmed that he was hitting balls laborious, not chasing dangerous pitches and drawing walks.

But on the finish of the night time, he would head residence hitless and, he admitted, a “little sad.”

You can guess on his trip residence Saturday night time he was sporting an enormous smile after going 4-for-4 and enjoying a key function in Arizona’s 12-8 win over the Dodgers at Chase Field.

Thomas was 0-for-16 when he stepped into the batter’s field within the second inning in opposition to Noah Syndergaard, however his two-out triple ignited a four-run rally because the D-backs took a lead they might not relinquish.

“It was great,” Thomas stated. “It was a good feeling to finally get that first one out of the way and then end up scoring. Good things happened today and it was a great team win, too. I feel like I’ve been having good at-bats and squaring the ball up, it’s just the results weren’t there. So I felt good coming into the game and all the other games, it’s just the results were there today.”

You can most likely hint Thomas’ means to stay together with his course of this yr to the teachings he realized throughout his rookie marketing campaign final season.

Called as much as the massive leagues for the primary time in May, Thomas performed nicely till a depressing September through which he was 7-for-55. Unlike this yr’s robust begin, that wore on him.

“I just wasn’t confident in myself,” he stated this spring, trying again eventually yr.

With lower than 10 days to go within the common season, Thomas was optioned to Triple-A Reno, a shocking transfer for a group that was nicely out of the postseason chase.

“No one wants to get sent down,” Thomas stated. “When it happened, I was pretty upset.”

But Thomas was becoming a member of a group that was heading to the playoffs, and he wasn’t about to place a damper on that.

“For me, baseball is fun and you never know when it’s going to be taken away from you,” Thomas stated. “So I just went down there and the group of guys — I had played with all of them before throughout my career — and they’re awesome. I went down there and everyone is smiling, so for me to not smile and not have fun would just bring the whole team down and I didn’t want to do that.”

Instead, Thomas loved himself as Reno cruised by the playoffs, ultimately capturing the Pacific Coast League championship.

“When I look back at it, I think it was good for me,” Thomas stated.

Thomas was additionally grateful for the assist he acquired from D-backs supervisor Torey Lovullo — who referred to as Thomas a few occasions throughout that interval to attempt to preserve his spirits up — in addition to the complete massive league teaching workers.

“They picked me up,” Thomas stated. “There was a lot of love there. I mean, it was pretty cool. Torey called me a few times when I got a call down, and I’m not sure if he does that with everyone else, but it was really cool for him to call me and check on me and ask how I was doing.”

Before Saturday’s sport, Lovullo talked about how he was impressed with the way in which Thomas was dealing with going hitless and identified that, given the standard of his at-bats, the dry spell wouldn’t final.

“The highlight was Alek Thomas, for me, in getting his first four hits of the year,” Lovullo stated. “He has been grinding and working and just staying with it. I’ve been telling you guys for the past couple of days with his plate discipline, his ability to lay off pitches that are troublesome to any hitter, he was doing that, and then he started to square up some baseballs. It’s easy to get frustrated, and he didn’t. He just kept with it, and it was a good day for him.” 

And little doubt, a cheerful trip residence.