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Jordan Lawlar’s fifth cease in what was primarily his first skilled season ended prematurely on Friday. Enjoying for the Arizona Fall League’s Salt River Rafters, the 20-year-old shortstop suffered a fractured left scapula after being plunked by a pitch. The damage — the second to place him out of motion since he was taken with the sixth general decide of the 2021 draft — will depart him on the shelf for a reported six to eight weeks. Fourteen months in the past, he tore a labrum in the identical shoulder after only a pair of video games with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ rookie-league entry.
The progress he’s made within the interim is a testomony to his expertise. Advancing from the Arizona Complicated League to Double-A Amarillo, with two stops in-between, Lawlar slashed .303/.401/.509 with a 138 wRC+ and 16 residence runs in 459 plate appearances this season. A self-described “pure hitter who likes to only be athletic within the field,” the Dallas-area native is at present No. 42 in our Top 100 Prospects rankings.
Veronica Gajownik is aware of him effectively. An outfield and hitting coach within the Diamondbacks system, the previous Staff USA infielder labored with Lawlar in Amarillo this 12 months, and extra lately within the AFL.
“He needs to get higher,” mentioned Gajownik, who’s on Salt River’s teaching workers. “He has a really open thoughts, and the willpower to do what it takes to get to the large leagues. The hassle degree is nice to see from somebody his age.”
Requested about any early-career changes he’s made, Lawlar mentioned that they’ve been nearly completely psychological. Mechanically, there was “nothing too loopy” — his setup is analogous, and his right-handed stroke stays geared to driving balls into the gaps. His main method is to suppose opposite-field hole and from there react accordingly, relying on the pitch and its location. “It’s extra of an exterior cue, sort of a basic goal level that I wish to maintain my ideas in direction of,” was how he defined his M.O.
Lawlar’s studying curve has included refining his method towards completely different motion profiles; driving fastballs and two-seamers can’t be attacked precisely the identical method. He’s additionally extra targeted on ready for pitches he can do harm on. He views that side of his improvement as essential to his success. Whereas he used to “typically simply go up there, swinging,” he now is aware of {that a} more-nuanced plan is “100% the way it must be.”
That plan doesn’t embrace pondering to the purpose of paralysis by evaluation.
“I’m analytical, however I play finest after I maintain it easy,” Lawlar advised me. “I like numbers. I like a variety of… I assume you could possibly say that I may be very mechanical in my pondering, however typically it’s higher to clear your thoughts and simply play. I wish to be extra of a really feel man. On the identical time, my thoughts has all the time been into numbers and math. Issues like that.”
Gajownik’s teaching philosophy is an effective match for a way Lawlar approaches his craft. Whereas well-versed in hitting analytics, she doesn’t consider in overburdening gamers with info. Greater than something, she needs them to belief the method, constructing on their skill-sets by merely going on the market and enjoying the sport. That’s exactly what she needs to see from Lawlar.
“He’s a extremely good hitter, so I’m excited to see the place he’s going to be at in one other 12 months,” Gajownik mentioned. “With him studying his method, particularly at his age… He went by way of 4 completely different ranges of pitchers this 12 months — the complicated. Visalia, Hillsborough, and Amarillo — and he did a great job of dealing with every league, dealing with every soar to the subsequent degree. So he does very a great job of adjusting. He simply must proceed to get extra expertise.”
Lawlar largely agrees with that evaluation. Requested what he considers the subsequent step in his improvement, the teen pointed to extra skilled at-bats.
“It’s actually simply expertise,” he mentioned. “With expertise, you discover issues out about your self, about your sport, that you could be want to enhance on. That’s the largest factor. It’s why I’m right here [in the AFL].”
Gaining extra expertise is now on maintain, the fractured scapula making certain that Lawlar received’t be additional honing his hitting abilities for a minimum of one other month or two. He could or could not use the downtime to hone his musical abilities. Lawlar started enjoying the trumpet in center college, and whereas he doesn’t decide up the instrument almost as typically as he as soon as did, he’d progressed to a degree the place he was “fairly stable.”
Pretty much as good as Timmy Trumpet?
“No,” he admitted. “I like listening to him, however I can’t do this.”
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