The Boston Red Sox acquired Adam Duvall this offseason in hopes that his pull-side power would play well at Fenway Park.
It did, with the 34-year-old slashing an absolutely ludicrous .455/.514/.1.030 across eight games, wearing out the Green Monster (and every other left field) to the tune of four home runs, five doubles, one triple and 14 RBIs. Things reached an untimely conclusion, however, when an early season wrist injury sent him to the injured list for four-to-six weeks.
Luckily for Boston, he’s passed on some wisdom to another pull-side hitter.
Connor Wong has taken over in a big way, breaking out for the Red Sox in their recent homestand thanks to advice from Duvall, per Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe.
“It’s mostly about not being afraid to pull the ball, and trying to force the ball the other way or trying to be this like, quote unquote good hitter,” Wong said, per McWilliams. “It’s just letting the contact points dictate if you’re going to pull the ball or not.
“… It doesn’t mean that I’m not trying to hit the ball the other way. I want to let the ball travel. I don’t want to hook stuff. I just want to pull the right way versus pulling it the wrong way.”
Wong has absolutely smoked the ball over his last three games, belting three home runs to go along with a pair of doubles while batting .587 with a 1.385 slugging percentage. In that stretch, he has put six balls in play with exit velocities of 105 miles per hour or higher.
Like we said, smoking the baseball.
The breakout has allowed Wong to gain the inside track into the Red Sox’s No. 1 catcher spot, with Reese McGuire serving as a more than serviceable No. 2. Thanks to Duvall, Boston has found another big bat to go in their dangerous lineup.
