He just had to change his mindset.
Cyclones third baseman Blake Tiberi is starting to put some hits together, bouncing back after a difficult start to the season.
“I stopped thinking,” Tiberi said. “I’ve been kind of pressing lately. I took a few weeks off after college ball just so I could recharge. I’m still getting adjusted to this level of pitching.”
In Brooklyn’s 5–4 win over Connecticut on July 3, Tiberi’s triple tied the game in the sixth inning and he scored the go-ahead run one batter later. After struggling mightily at the beginning of the season, Tiberi raised his batting average to .152 after the weekend series. At first glance, it may not seem like a dominant number, but that average has Tiberi feeling confident. The professional pitchers he’s facing have been tougher than the ones he saw playing college ball at Louisville.
“There’s a pretty big difference. At least I think so,” he said. “The caliber of pitches is a lot higher. There’s not as many mistakes at this level, so you’ve gotta take advantage of the one pitch you’re able to hit. It’s definitely a pitcher-dominant league, so I just want to come to the park every day and just put together good at-bats.”
Tiberi was the 100th overall pick in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft. The Mets selected him despite two years of eligibility left at Louisville. It was an easy pick for the organization. In his final season with the Cardinals, Tiberi was fourth on the team in batting average, tied for second in home runs, and second in runs batted in. Now, Tiberi gets to play at MCU Park and relishes the atmosphere at Coney Island.
“It’s a cool experience,” he said. “I’ve never really played in an environment like this, so it’s been fun so far.”
The third baseman has spent time with hitting coach Sean Ratliff in an attempt to improve his offense, looking to jumpstart his presence at the plate in his second pro season.
“They’ve been watching video,” said Cyclones manager Tom Gamboa. “We’re going to need him to be the player he was in college.”
Fortunately, the skipper understands what Tiberi has struggled with.
“It’s strictly mechanical,” Gamboa said. “Mechanically he’s got a problem, at least right now, that the first move he makes is he lifts his right elbow which causes a loop in his swing. And as you can see, a lot of the pitchers, they’re just pounding him with fastballs, and he can’t get extended.”
The mechanical flaw frequently causes Tiberi to swing late. He’s been working on his approach, but it isn’t always easy to find practice time. The Cyclones haven’t had a day off since the season started, and the frequent games — coupled with a grueling travel schedule — make it difficult to work on fundamentals. Still, Tiberi is confident he can find his swing sooner rather than later.
“It’s kind of tough just because there’s so few stretches of off days to work on it,” he said. “I’ve just been coming in early and getting my work on. Progressively, I feel a lot better so, I’m going to keep doing that.”
