BOSTON – It wasn’t the three home runs he hit in that game against the San Diego Padres last week.
It was just the one, the first one, the one he drove the opposite way to right-center that told Spencer Steer he was hitting as well as he felt.
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“When I’m at my best, I’m driving the ball to right-center,” the Cincinnati Reds’ first baseman/left fielder said.
Spencer Steer ‘starting to feel normal again’ for Reds
That it’s happening now after a season-long slow burn since pushing through a shoulder issue to open the season on time might be some of the best news of a recent stretch of good news for the Reds.
“It’s starting to feel normal again,” Steer said. “So some of the swing mechanics have cleaned up just naturally with the strength coming back.”
In six games last week Steer led the majors in hitting (.522), slugging percentage (.957) and OPS (1.477), and he was third in on-base percentage (.520) – all of it adding up to earning National League Player of the Week honors.
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“I’ve been feeling solid lately, just really focusing on being a tough out,” said Steer, who played through a sore shoulder most of last season and narrowly avoided an injured-list move for it when this season opened.
“All I’ve been doing lately iust just going up there and trying to take a competitive at-bat and be a tough out,” he said, “and let the results be what they are.”
The results speak for themselves.
Spencer Steer rounds the bases after one of three home runs against the Padres on Friday.
Cincinnati Reds series winning streak
The Reds won series against the Yankees and Padres, with Steer delivering the Reds’ first three-homer game Friday since Jesse Winker in 2021.
“Guys get to their level,” manager Terry Francona said. “Watching him get there will be fun.”
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Steer, who successfully lobbied to open the season on the active roster when Austin Hays suffered a calf strain in his final exhibition game, wound up double-whammied at the plate early in the season.
The most defensively versatile player on the roster the last two years spent the first 20 games of the season not battling his mechanics after the shoulder rehab but also doing it as a designated hitter.
“It was a mix of things,” he said. “Obviously, DHing full time for the first time, that was a challenge. And then dealing with the shoulder, the strength wasn’t necessarily there at the beginning of the season.”
He hit .111 with one home run and 18 strikeouts in those first 20 games, his OPS sitting at .390.
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“We weren’t even going to activate him, and then he was like, ‘I can DH,’ so we thought about it and said OK,” Francona said. “We probably put him in a difficult spot.
“To his credit, he grinded through it.”
Spencer Steer stats
The day Steer returned to the field, at first base, April 20, he reached base three times with two hits and a walk.
From then through his Player of the Week stretch, he’s hitting .287 with eight home runs and a .783 OPS in 62 games (entering Monday).
“I’m just feeling like a complete baseball player,” he said. “Playing in the field and hitting has helped with that as well. And (the shoulder) is a non-issue now. The strength’s back, the range of motion’s back. And I’m feeling strong again.”
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Just in time to help a lineup that has been inconsistent much of the season – but that has helped the team win six of seven series through Sunday.
“Now he’s turned himself into who he is,” Francona said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds Spencer Steer back to ‘normal,’ wins NL Player of Week