COMMENTARY

DH Butler having trouble connecting

Kansas City designated hitter Billy Butler has struggled at the plate lately, something that’s not normal for him. “I don’t think he’s ever been through anything like this,” Royals Manager Ned Yost said.
Kansas City designated hitter Billy Butler has struggled at the plate lately, something that’s not normal for him. “I don’t think he’s ever been through anything like this,” Royals Manager Ned Yost said.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Billy Butler hits baseballs. Hard. This is what he does. His father wore out a shoulder throwing him endless batting practice as a kid. Billy has worn out countless gloves and batting cage nets and daylight hours hitting baseballs. Hard. This is who he is.

Billy could’ve gone to college to hit baseballs but never seriously thought about it because signing a pro contract with the Royals meant he could hit more baseballs more often. He is not fast. He does not have a good arm. Or good feet. And he will make more than $50 million in his career because he hits baseballs. Hard. Over and over. And over again.

Until recently.

His whole life has been driven by this rare gift to hit baseballs. He always played with older kids, because the pitchers his age didn’t stand a chance. They made fun of him sometimes, the older kids, but Billy had the ultimate scoreboard response: I can hit. Then, the older kids usually shut up. This is the push of Billy’s life. He won two batting titles in three minor-league seasons. The Royals batted him cleanup in his 14th big league game, two months after his 21st birthday.

He hit 51 doubles at 23, and signed a contract that gave him generational wealth at 24. Everything Billy has, and all that people know him for, is because he hits baseballs. Hard. He is the one player coaches and teammates can tell is in the cage just by listening.

Until recently.

There are signs that the worst is in the past, but even after his first double (which, to be fair, could’ve been caught) and multihit game Saturday, Butler is hitting .193 nearly three weeks into the season. He has been pushed out of the middle of the order for the first time since April of his second season. All his life, hitting has been his identity. No matter what else, Butler hits.

So what happens when the hitting stops, inexplicably if temporarily, at the start of what might be the most important season of a career?

“I don’t think he’s ever been through anything like this,” Royals Manager Ned Yost said.

“I’ve never been through anything like that,” Butler said.

Butler’s timing is off. That’s part of the problem. He is late on fastballs and early on change-ups, which means he’s over thinking the mechanisms he uses, like that toe tap.

The issues are complicated and interconnected. Ask him about it, and you will get a passionate and earnest explanation that includes his hips opening too soon, too much worry about the inside pitch, not enough trust in his hands and the pressure of being a full-time designated hitter who isn’t hitting.

“There’s something just mechanically off,” he said at one point.

“It’s not mechanical, it’s mental,” he said at another point.

This is all new to him, like waking up one day and not being able to see colors. He’s never gone this long without an extra-base hit - he had 73 of them in 2009, and 62 as recently as two years ago - and for a man whose entire livelihood is hitting, well, you can see how this would get into his head.

One of the things that has marked Butler for years as a hitting savant is consistency. Relentlessness. In the last eight years, the Royals have been through Jose Guillen’s moods and Gil Meche’s contract and Zack Greinke’s rise and enough time for Sal Perez to go from unknown amateur teenager to All-Star catcher.

The most constant part of the Royals for the big-league equivalent of an eternity has been Butler hitting line drives all over American League ballparks. From April 2009 to June 2011, the Royals played 131 series and Butler had at least one hit in each one.

There is no known data about how this compares with other top hitters in the modern era. It is an odd statistic, granted, but it does speak to a remarkable consistency that has anchored the middle of a lot of otherwise rotten Royals lineups over the years.

So the Royals have never seen this before. He has just 11 hits in 57 at-bats. Saturday was his best day of this still young season, but even then his double was a floater misplayed in the sun by a Twins outfielder and his single more through a hole than driven through it.

“It isn’t a lot [of time],” he said. “But it’s enough to realize you’re doing something wrong.”

Butler has waited his entire professional career to be on a team this good, one that is genuinely seen around the game as a playoff contender.He is in an effective contract year, the Royals holding a $12.5 million option for 2015 they aren’t picking up without a big year.

Butler is a designated hitter and the third-highest paid player on the team. When he’s not hitting, he’s not helping. And his team needs help.

If pressure is the problem, moving him down in the order probably isn’t the answer.

“Someone like, say, Moose [Mike Moustakas], he plays good defense and helps the team,” said Butler, who had only 42 extra-base hits in 2013. “Me, it’s like, ‘Hey, man, this is all I have for the team and I’m not hitting worth a squat.’ It takes a toll on you mentally. But I’m tough enough to not let it wear on me going forward.”

Sports, Pages 27 on 04/20/2014

Upcoming Events