Jay Bruce Emerging Slugger

CINCINNATI—He is growing into a go-to slugger. Jay Bruce is blossoming, fulfilling potential, and he has become a more potent hitter game-in and game-out for his needy team.

The Reds were highly regarded starting the 2012 season, and if there was any doubt about them becoming a division winner, it revolved around pitching. The Reds had the bats. The Reds scored runs in bunches.

Except they haven’t. Lack of hitting, notably a lack of timely hitting, has found Cincinnati stranding more runners than driving them home. It’s been an offensive slog. So outfielder Bruce’s consistent swatting has at times been life-saving.

Bruce was hitting .304 after the season’s first 24 games with eight home runs and 18 RBIs and was pretty much the sole instrument of power in the Reds lineup. Recently, he was chosen the National League player of the week for hitting .476 in six games.

Baseball is made up of streaks and slumps. In a 162-game season the ebb and flow can be dramatic. Nobody is hot every game and nobody is ice cold every game. If you hit safely often enough, you are an All-Star. If you don’t hit safely often enough, you get exiled to the minors.

In-between reside the vast majority of hitters, the average guys. Making the move up from middle-of-the-pack hitter to All-Star hitter requires consistency, luck, and talent. Given that batting .300 can make a guy an All-Star, and that represents only three hits in every 10 at-bats, class division tip-toes along a very fine line.

At 25, Bruce is in his fifth season with the club, and in the off-season was rewarded with a humongous, multi-year deal that should keep him in Cincinnati until he turns gray. He showed improvement, the Reds liked what they saw, and now they are getting their money’s worth. Bruce showed the stuff of a dangerous long-ball hitter from the first. In his four previous years he has smacked, 21, 22, 25, and 32 home runs. Bruce is suddenly looking like one of baseball’s best home-run hitters.

A few days ago, when he was asked if he was in a zone, Bruce laughed, wasn’t sure quite what to say and then said, “Oh, sure.”

Actually, he was trying not to tamper with a good thing, verbally or mentally.

“I’m just trying to do the same things at the plate,” Bruce said. “I’m not trying to kill the ball. It’s obviously great. I just would like to extend it (hot streak) as long as I can.”

Bruce reported to spring training about 15 pounds lighter than usual. He said he’s not sure that has helped him on the field, but that change did make him feel better about himself.

“I’m not a new person,” he said.

Nonetheless, the thinner (about 210 pounds) Bruce, who shed weight by banning fried foods and sodas from his diet, could be in line for an All-Star berth.

“I’ve seen him hot before,” said Reds manager Dusty Baker of Bruce. “Sometimes guys get hot depending on how they are pitched.”

The difference has been that Bruce has been hot regardless of how he was pitched and who was doing the pitching. Bruce said sometimes he tinkers with things at the plate, but “I try to be as consistent as possible. I just try to minimize the downs.”

Hitting in the middle of the order for a team that has been surprisingly anemic producing runs, Bruce represents holding a finger in the dike until reinforcements arrive. All of the other guys decked out in red and white better start following Bruce’s example and knock in some runs.

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