Jarrod Saltalamacchia Putting in Extra Work to End His Rising Number of Strikeouts

BOSTON –– The strikeouts are piling up for Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Heading into Tuesday’s game, the Red Sox catcher has fanned 20 times in his last 10 games, including six games with two-plus strikeouts. It’s a trend that Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine has noticed.

“[He’s] just not laying off the pitch down, soft and down,” Valentine said of Saltalamacchia. “You know, it’s an old Catch 22. It’s a ball, take it, and if you keep telling yourself not to swing at it, you usually swing at it. It’s one of those things.”

Despite reaching a career-high in home runs (17), Saltalamacchia is also on pace to eclipse his previous mark for the most strikeouts in a season (119). Through 72 games this year, the 27-year-old has struck out 79 times.

Before the game, the catcher’s batting average was a paltry .231. Due to the increase in strikeouts, Saltalamacchia is putting in the extra work to improve his discipline at the plate.

“He did come out early today, had a few rounds of extra [batting practice] at 3 [p.m.] this afternoon and worked on specific things,” Valentine said.

Behind David Ortiz, Saltalamacchia is second on the team in home runs.

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