Approach Altered, Tigers Prospect Colt Keith is Looking To Loft.
Colt Keith started to tap into his power last year. After going deep just twice in 2021 ? his first professional season ? the 21-year-old third baseman homered nine times in 48 games with High-A West Michigan before landing on the injured list with a dislocated shoulder in early June. Returning to action in October, Keith proceeded to hit three bombs in 19 Arizona Fall League games.
The increased power production by one of the top position-player prospects in the Detroit Tigers organization was by design.
?I changed my approach a little bit,? Keith told me during his stint in the AFL.
?I started trying to hit balls out in front, and backspin them to all fields, looking for a little bit more power. A lot of people had told me I just needed to keep doing what I was doing, but looking at guys in the big leagues that I want to play like, they?re hitting 25-30 homers a year. I felt like I needed to move in that direction. At the same time, I want to keep my hit tool. Batting .300 with some home runs is what I?d like to do.?
That is what he did this past season. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound infielder ? Keith has added meaningful size and strength since entering pro ball ? augmented his regular-season round-trippers with a .301/.370/.544 slash line. In 2021, he?d slashed .320/.437/.422 with Low-A Lakeland before scuffling over the final month as a 19-year-old in the Midwest League.
Asked about the hitters he is trying to emulate, Keith cited fellow infielders Corey Seager, Austin Riley, and Francisco Lindor.
?Looking at how those guys play ? how they approach their at-bats ? they?re more aggressive and tend to be early rather than late,? said Keith. ?What that does is create backspin and let them hit balls out of the park. My first year, I was just catching balls deep and getting base hits ? which is great ? but I figured out that if you?re aggressive and catching it out front, you?ll run into homers. I knew that I had the strength for it, so yeah, just a little approach change.?
When I?d spoken to Detroit?s 2020 fifth-round pick late in the 2021 season, he?d hinted at what has since transpired. While acknowledging that he?d primarily been focusing on contact, he also opined that ?you have to hit first, and then the power comes as you mature and get your man strength.?
Based on his injury-shortened 2022 campaign, that corner is already being turned. Moreover, it is coming not with a major change, but, as he?d explained, ?just a little approach change.?
?The common theme is that I?m basically trying to do the same thing as before, which is to hit the ball hard,? said Keith. ?I?m not trying to swing harder, or anything like that, because that leads to strikeouts for me. Again, all I?m doing is catching it more out front and creating loft ? I?m creating exit velocity with some launch angle on it.?
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