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The Detroit Tigers won their fifth game in a row on Tuesday night, and Colt Keith was the hero. The Tigers went down 2-0 early against the Tampa Bay Rays, but they found a way back in it and tied the game at two in the fifth inning. The game was still tied in the seventh inning, but Colt Keith ended up putting Detroit ahead for good with a two-run homer. The Rays weren't able to get back in it after that, and the Tigers improved to 59-34 on the year.
Colt Keith has been scorching hot at the plate as of late, and it's been surprising to see given the way that he started the season. In the month of April, Keith struggled mightily at the plate as he hit .186 with a .578 OPS. He has completely turned things around as he is now hitting .269 on the season with an .801 OPS. The secret? Keith isn't trying to do too much.
“I'm trying to just focus on swinging easy,” he said, according to an article from MLB.com. “I think that's allowing my hands to speed up and get to everything. Obviously, baseball's full of ups and downs, so I'm trying to ride this high as long as I can, keep that feel as long as I can.”
Keith compared it to the game of golf. Every average golfer knows that it's tough to resist swinging out of your shoes at the ball, but they also know that swinging nice and easy is the better option 99% of the time.
“My heartbeat's been so high for my whole big league career,” Keith added. “Just fighting to get that down. It makes sense. Tight muscles are sore muscles, as they say. Kind of like golf, you just swing easy and it goes further. It's kind of the same thing. No way I could've learned that without the experience.”
So far in July, Colt Keith is 11-23 at the plate with two homers and five RBIs. He is finally finding a groove, and Tigers manager AJ Hinch knows that this is only the beginning.
“We need to remember that he's still scratching the surface of who he's going to be and what he's going to be at this level,” Hinch said. “We showed some patience with him over the last couple of seasons just as he's tried to figure it out.”
As Keith's career has gone on, he has become more knowledgeable. Knowing the game and being smart is what has helped him take such big strides.
“He's always been a smart hitter,” he continued. “He is learning that less is more. Whether that's the backside base hit with the runner in scoring position, whether it's getting to a pitch late in the game and pulling it out of the ballpark, he is a complete hitter. And he doesn't have to be perfect to do it. And he's an impactful guy. That's why I put him at the top of the order against these righties, because when the lineup flips, he's going to put up a really good at-bat.”
Colt Keith and the Tigers are playing some really good baseball right now, and they will look to be the first team to reach the 60-win mark this season when they host the Rays on Wednesday night in Detroit. The Tigers are going for their sixth straight win and second sweep in a row. Detroit and Tampa Bay will get underway at 5:10 ET from Comerica Park. Reese Olson will get the start for the Tigers, and Zack Littell will be on the mound for the Rays.
