CINCINNATI -- Héctor Rodríguez was on a hitting tear for Triple-A Louisville when the Reds gave the 22-year-old right fielder his first Major League promotion on Aug. 4. Rodríguez's first couple of weeks saw extremely lean production and the lefty hitter's confidence dried up quickly.
Over his first 12 games for Cincinnati, Rodríguez batted .118 with a .336 OPS and no home runs. That was after he hit 27 homers with an .880 OPS over 104 games at Louisville.
Where was that guy?
"I was thinking way too much. I was standing at home plate and there were too many thoughts, too many things to think about," Rodríguez said via interpreter Tomas Vera.
When he needed it most, teammates Elly De La Cruz and Eugenio Suárez took Rodríguez aside and gave him a confidence boost with some simple advice.
"They came and were like, ‘You’ve just got to go out there and play your game. Be yourself. Play how you always play.’ That’s what helped me," Rodríguez said.
Over his final 29 games after Aug. 22, Rodríguez batted .264 with a .787 OPS, six homers and 15 RBIs.
Confidence, of course, helps, but the key to Rodríguez's success at every level on his way up has been his quick hands and bat speed.
That was best highlighted by Rodríguez's two-homer game against the Giants on Aug. 26. The second homer left his bat at 115.2 mph and splash-landed into McCovey Cove beyond Oracle Park's right-field seats. It sparked a seven-run Reds rally in the top of the ninth inning for an improbable come-from-behind win.
Rodríguez's undoing during times of struggles? Poor pitch selection and moving around too much in the batter's box.
During exit interviews with manager Terry Francona and coaches, Rodríguez was given directions to clean up some things this offseason.
"He’s got such great hands," Francona said. "They were showing pictures of [former Blue Jays first baseman] Carlos Delgado up there [at Rogers Centre], and [assistant bench coach Mike Napoli] said he’s got the same hands and the same finish. I’m not comparing him to Carlos Delgado. But we’ve got to keep his feet from bouncing around, because when they do, that’s when you see that fastball get by him or he’s chasing a breaking ball. That’s doable.
"Repetition will help. [His hands] are very special. You don’t want to lose that because of other things.”
Francona noted a saying he often heard from former longtime player and ex-Mets hitting coach Bill Robinson.
“He always used to say, ‘slow feet, quick hands.’ And I’ve always remembered that I believe all that," Francona said. "It makes a lot of sense.”
Rodríguez should benefit from sticking to that axiom. He struck out 39 times in 152 plate appearances (25.7 percent) over his 41 big league games. Much of that trouble came against left-handed pitching, with 15 strikeouts and no walks in 41 at-bats.
"He’s got power. He’s got the ability to get on base. He needs to shrink the zone," president of baseball operations Nick Krall said. "He does chase out of the zone a little too much. But when he does get the ball in his zone, he can hit it. He has the ability to take the at-bats he needs to get more consistent with where he is and what he does.”
Considered below average in the field but with a very good throwing arm, Rodríguez will also work to level up defensively during the winter in the Dominican Republic.
"He’s a guy who was a second baseman. We converted him to the outfield,” Krall said. “He struggled. He broke his ankle. He struggled with speed. He’s finally gotten his speed back to where it was a few years ago. He’s made strides from last year to this year in Triple-A to the big leagues of being able to play the defense in either corner."
Rodríguez has an offer from De La Cruz to visit him and work out this offseason. They live about 20 minutes apart near the Dominican capital city of Santo Domingo.
“I’m planning on going there and getting together with Elly, and working with him as many times as I can," Rodríguez said.
Next spring, the Reds have an unsettled outfield picture where Krall could look for upgrades after the group struggled offensively and defensively.
With fellow lefty hitter JJ Bleday, Rodríguez will be among those expected to compete for corner spots. He will need a good showing in camp.
“I believe in myself," Rodríguez said. "I’ll arrive at Spring Training with the confidence that I am a big leaguer and I can continue to stay and be here. But you’ve got to work hard and you’ve got to work with confidence.”