Vertigo offered a lot of challenges for Ryan Mountcastle.
First it was the unusual feeling of dizziness within the discipline. Then the issue choosing up the ball out of the pitcher’s hand on the plate. And, lastly, an absence from the sport, a month away from the massive leagues as he managed the signs whereas on the injured checklist.
But maybe essentially the most troublesome half, he stated, was when he started his minor league rehabilitation task with the Norfolk Tides. The first baseman was slumping on the plate earlier than he started experiencing vertigo, and people struggles continued when he returned in opposition to minor league pitching. He went 0-for-12 with 5 strikeouts in his first three rehab video games.
“I was like, ‘It’s Triple-A, I should be able to kill it,’” Mountcastle recollects pondering. “I still was having symptoms, and I was like ‘Is this ever going to go away?”
Those vertigo signs — the feeling that the atmosphere round oneself is shifting or spinning — did dissipate throughout that rehab task. After 19 days with Norfolk, he returned to Baltimore and stated he was “happy to be back and to feel like a normal human again.”
Now, he’s hitting like Ryan Mountcastle once more.
The 26-year-old slugger is 10-for-30 on the plate since he returned the day earlier than the All-Star break. In the small pattern, he has a .394 on-base share and a .533 slugging share — good for a .927 OPS. His OPS dipped under .700 in early June when he skilled vertigo in Milwaukee, however it’s since climbed to .713 — removed from excellent, however nearer to his profession mark of .763.
This week in opposition to the Philadelphia Phillies, he had his finest offensive collection since May. Mountcastle hit a solo dwelling run to straightaway middle discipline in Monday’s one-run victory and reached base 4 instances, going 2-for-2 with two walks, in Tuesday’s loss. He went 0-for-3 in Wednesday’s loss, however he walked to increase his on-base streak in video games he’s began to eight.
“I feel like everything’s feeling good,” Mountcastle stated. “My body feels normal. Just seeing the ball a lot better. I think it’s starting to show. To finally be able to feel like myself again is definitely a joy.”
Manager Brandon Hyde eased Mountcastle again into recreation motion to start the second half of the season whereas additionally deploying him largely in opposition to left-handed pitchers, platooning the right-handed hitter with Ryan O’Hearn, a lefty. In 13 second-half video games, the platoon of Mountcastle and O’Hearn have mixed to slash .322/.369/.559 — good for a .928 OPS — in 65 plate appearances.
Mountcastle didn’t begin back-to-back video games till final weekend in opposition to the Tampa Bay Rays, however he began all three video games at Citizens Bank Park and has been in 5 of Hyde’s previous six lineups.
“If he can take those type of at-bats, it makes our club different, just the added power,” stated Hyde, referencing Mountcastle reaching base 4 instances Tuesday. “There’s a lot of things that Mounty can do well. Since he’s been back, I felt like his at-bats have improved.”
Mountcastle turning into a platoon participant isn’t as stunning as O’Hearn’s emergence, however it was anticipated coming into the season that the facility hitter could be an on a regular basis staple in Baltimore’s lineup. No Oriole hit extra dwelling runs or drove in additional runs between 2021 and 2022 than Mountcastle (55 homers, 174 RBIs).
He performed nearly day by day earlier than he started slumping in late May after which coping with vertigo. Before he was positioned on the injured checklist, Mountcastle was hitting .161 with a .516 OPS in his previous 22 video games.
“It’s different,” Mountcastle stated of his present position. “That’s nothing I’ve experienced before, but I’m taking it day by day and just trying to help the team. … It’s something new to me. Just staying ready on the bench whenever my name is called. Just excited to still be here.”
The time in Triple-A additionally gave Mountcastle the chance to make “tweaks” together with his swing.
Early this season, he had a noticeable backward lean in his batting stance earlier than the pitcher delivered the ball. Mountcastle stated he tried it out in batting observe early within the season, began doing it in video games to “free up the inside corner a little bit,” obtained a number of hits the primary time he did it, and caught with it. His lean was maybe most noticeable through the Orioles’ four-game collection in opposition to the Oakland Athletics, by which Mountcastle went 5-for-16 with 4 dwelling runs, together with his nine-RBI recreation.
But as time went on, it began to hinder Mountcastle’s timing, and he’s ditched the lean.
“It was just sort of me trying to figure out my own swing and what works for me,” he stated. “I’d make little tweaks here and there, whether it’s in BP or whatnot, with whatever feels comfortable that day. When I wasn’t feeling comfortable anymore, I just got rid of it.”
The aim for Mountcastle — together with his swing, his thoughts and his physique — is to be as “relaxed” as he can when he’s enjoying, particularly within the batter’s field. He doesn’t assume the arrogance he’s felt up to now, like in opposition to the Athletics when 95 mph fastballs seemed like “a beach ball,” is much off.
“It sort of messes with your confidence. It sort of gets in your head,” Mountcastle stated of getting vertigo. “Finally, I’m starting to get that confidence back.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com