Nelson Cruz trying his best to reach prime form, timing hits in practice before ALCS opener
The Texas Rangers will face the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series this year and they will be hosting the challengers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. .
One Texas hitter who has been trying to break form with the bat happens to be Nelson Cruz. The outfielder has not been on top of his game for the past few weeks and the club is trying to fix his timing before the new series kicks off. He talked to the press
on Thursday, October 6.
Manager Ron Washington told the press that Cruz is getting back to his old self but he has not reached there yet. Cruz was 8-for-42 in September. His .190 batting average was poor but the club paid no heed to the deficiency as the team worked on getting
their seasoned star some at-bats. However his American League Division Series performance did not spell improvement as well as he went 1-for-15 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
"I'm just trying to get the job done," Cruz said. "I'm working hard in the cage every day. I'm trying to just put the ball in play. If I do that, good things can happen. If you don't, the only thing that can happen is the catcher catches the ball."
Cruz was quick to explain why his performance has dipped since his return from hamstring injury in September. The player was fed with a plethora of sliders and changeups. The deliveries are usually pitched to returning hitters with timing issues.
"I'm probably letting the pitch get too deep and hitting a lot of hard ground balls," Cruz said. "It's about timing. I need to get out front more on pitches."
The Rangers are now hoping to get the player ready for his first game in the Championship Series on October 8 against the visiting Tigers. It will be interesting to see what impact Cruz will have in Game 1 as both teams will be looking to go all out for
a victory.
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