It’s been a struggle
It’s not just the new team that challenges Jose Vidro and his reputation as one of baseball’s better hitters. It’s also not just the switch to designated hitter after being a position player all his career, or the move to the American League after facing nothing but National League pitchers.
It’s all of the above, and Vidro admits none of it has been easy.
He’s hitting just .212, but that’s a vast improvement over the .143 he was hitting before going 3 for 5 Sunday, including two home runs.
“I never get frustrated. I have a lot of confidence in myself,” he said. “I had an 0-for-5 game (Saturday), a really bad game. But look what happened today. Who knows what’s gong to happen Tuesday, but I’m going to enjoy this right now.
“I’ve got to keep having positive thoughts in my mind and good things will happen.”
The shift to DH after playing second base for 10 years with the Montreal Expos and Washington Nationals has changed everything about Vidro’s gametime regimen. Besides the challenge of staying loose between at-bats, he must keep himself emotionally into the game.
“For me, it’s taking the time to get my body warm,” he said. “I try to do a little more running. I’ve been able to stay in the dugout and watch the games so I can still feel like I’m in the game. If I come into the clubhouse, it would be a long nine innings for me.”
Learning American League pitchers already has been Vidro’s biggest challenge, primarily because he has faced most of the opposing teams’ top starters in eight games.
“When I was in the National League, I heard a lot of things about American League pitchers not being the same, that the pitching was tougher in the National League than the American League. I’ve only been here a couple of weeks, but we’ve faced some very tough pitching so far.
“I’ll be able to answer that question in a month or so, but they seem to be very tough here, too.”
Until he learns the pitching, Vidro must keep his swing thoughts simple and gather information about opponents from his teammates.
“I try to look at a lot of videos. I’ll ask the guys, I’ll ask the hitting coach,” he said. “Most of the guys I haven’t seen, and it’s something that I have to adjust to. That’s the toughest adjustment coming from one league to the other league.”
The ballparks are another factor, although Vidro has learned Safeco Field can be a nice place for a left-hander to hit despite its reputation as a pitcher’s park.
“I played in Montreal, a huge stadium, but the ball carried pretty good there,” he said. “Washington, that place was a real bad place for hitters. I called it Washington Airport.
“This place is a lot better.”