It’s never really about the numbers for Jim Haley.
That’s a good thing because until about three weeks ago, Haley’s numbers were not good. He sunk to the Mendoza Line on July 3.
But, almost as if there was a switch to avoid falling below that .200 batting average mark, Haley has been scorching hot ever since.
The 29-year-old Delaware County native is hitting .431 in his last 18 games entering Thursday’s doubleheader against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with three doubles, three home runs, six stolen bases, 10 runs, 11 RBIs and an 1.112 OPS.
It was a complete reversal of his first 39 games with the IronPigs when he hit .200 with 38 strikeouts and a .594 OPS.
“It’s one story for the people watching and another for the guys hitting and others on the team,” said Haley, who played scholastically at Bonner-Prendergast in Drexel Hill and collegiately at Penn State. “The numbers probably told one story of me struggling. Obviously, the numbers weren’t really good, apparently.
“But I was just putting in the work every day. I think one reason you don’t look at the numbers is because it can bog you down a bit and change your work ethic and tinker with things that don’t need to be tinkered with.”
Haley didn’t make a swing change that prompted the hot streak. It was just good, old-fashioned grinding.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder showed up every day, maintaining his routine. He kept his mind clear in the batter’s box and worked to stay committed to using the whole field.
He fought the urges to get pull happy, particularly on off-speed pitches on the outer third of the plate.
The better he did that, the more the hits came.
“Baseball is a funny sport, ups and downs,” Haley said. “Sometimes, the downs tend to be longer than previously. Some of the ups tend to be longer, as well. Just staying the course was the biggest thing for me and understanding the tide was going to turn.
“Even now, I don’t know what the numbers are. I’m sure they are better than they were, obviously. But I just go off the work. Put in the work early and the game’s the game. I’m searching for quality at-bats, not hits.”
Cal Stevenson is another IronPigs veteran who is being rewarded for his diligence and dedication to his craft. The 27-year-old outfielder has been stellar chasing down fly balls in all directions this season, if when the hits weren’t falling for him.
Lately, however, he’s been as good as anyone in the International League. He was named Tuesday at the league’s player of the month for July. His hot streak started before then.
Stevenson has a .371 average, .471 on-base percentage, 14 stolen bases, 18 extra-base hits, 20 RBIs, 28 walks and 35 runs in his last 38 games.
“He’s not a big prospect but a guy who goes out every single day and is the same guy on the field competing, grinding out at-bats, holding down center field,” IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras said. “He’s changing the game on the bases and at the plate, he’s been for us if you want to call him our leader. I think he puts himself in that category.”
Stevenson, who saw major-league time with the Athletics in 2022 and Giants in 2023, has always been a stellar defensive outfielder. He started his IronPigs career in late May 2023 with a 4-for-38 funk, but then hit .393 in a 20-game stretch.
The common denominator for him was consistent at-bats.
With injuries and other roster movement in 2024, Stevenson got to that 200 at-bat mark sooner, so the hot streak started sooner.
“Just playing every day and getting consistent at-bats,” said Stevenson, a California native who played college ball at the University of Nevada, Reno. “It gives you more comfortable at-bats and you have a better plan. You’re seeing more pitches and have more of an idea what guys are trying to do to you, that’s the biggest change.
“I talk about it with my dad all the time. Just get me to 200 at-bats. I’m usually a slow starter. I don’t like saying that. But once I get to 200 at-bats, it feels like things start to click and I have an idea of what I’m doing up there. It makes it easier to go out there and play.”
Stevenson’s biggest concern now is keeping his body fresh. His legs were fatigued toward the end of a 12-game road trip to Rochester and Jacksonville.
But a day off and a rainout perhaps is just what he and his weary teammates needed.
Other IronPigs hitters who have done well lately (entering Thursday):
— UTL Scott Kingery: (last 21 games).352 batting average, 1.058 OPS, 18 runs, 12 extra-base hits, 18 RBIs, seven stolen bases. He is 14 runs shy of the franchise’s career runs scored record (Rich Thompson, 244). Kingery also is second in at-bats, stolen bases and triples.
— OF Matt Kroon: (last 11) .300 average, 13 RBIs, seven runs, six extra-base hits, three walks, two stolen bases;
— INF Rodolfo Castro: (last seven) .286 average, .394 on-base percentage, four walks, two extra-base hits. In 14 games total this season, he’s hitting .250 with three homers and eight RBIs. In 14 games last season with the Phillies after coming over from the Pirates in the Bailey Falter trade, Castro hit .100 with 12 strikeouts in 32 plate appearances. After hitting a walk-off, three-run homer in the IronPigs’ 2024 season opener, he went on the injured list with left shoulder subscapular bursitis.
— INF Buddy Kennedy: (last 10) .378 average, six extra-base hits, six walks, seven RBIs, four runs. In the 41 games since coming from the Tigers organization, he is slashing .344/.453/.604/1.057 with 25 RBIs, 30 walks, 31 runs and 24 extra-base hits. He previously hit .195 in 24 games for Triple-A Toledo with 24 strikeouts.
— C Rafael Marchan: (last eight) .355 average, .447 on-base percentage, five walks, six runs, 11 hits (all singles) since being sent down;
— UTL Kody Clemens: (last nine) .324 average, seven runs, four extra-base hits, eight RBIs, four walks; batting .139 in first eight games after being sent down;
— 1B Darick Hall: (last 15) .298 average, .412 on-base percentage, eight extra-base hits, 18 RBIs, 10 walks, nine runs. He has a franchise-record 72 career home runs and is tied with Andy Tracy for the mark in RBIs (261). Hall is nine doubles shy of Thompson’s team record (83).
Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com
Source: Berkshire mont
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