Why Kingston wants Ethan Petry to have a 'Barry Bonds mentality' at the plate
For as good of a hitter as Ethan Petry is, he’s going to run into slumps from time to time. That’s just a part of baseball. Even the best hitters will have their struggles.
Coming into last weekend, Petry was on a tear, picking up a hit in each of his last six games. But facing a tougher Arkansas pitching staff, he struggled plenty. The sophomore slugger went 0-for-12 with six strikeouts and looked baffled at the plate.
But with another big series on deck this weekend, Mark Kingston knows well enough by this point that Petry will get back to his old ways.
“I mean, he’s one of the best hitters in the country. And he will continue to be that,” Kingston said.
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After going back and watching some tape following the Arkansas series, Kingston noticed that Petry didn’t get many pitches to hit. And he would be right, as the Razorbacks pitching staff threw him a lot of pitches out of the zone, which worked to their benefit.
“He swung out of the zone a lot, he was just a little bit too anxious,” Kingston said. “He’s a guy that wants to help propel us to be one of the best teams in the country. And when he knows he’s not doing that, or they’re not allowing him to do that he last week, he allowed it to get him a little bit frustrated.”
With each at-bat he took, Petry looked more and more defeated. And by the end of the series, he was taking pitches that he would normally crush and instead strike out looking.
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But still, it’s no accident that Petry has been the Gamecocks’ best hitter, even despite a string of bad at-bats. Kingston said the key will be for him to “stay within the strike zone” and have a watchful eye.
“We’ve told him he needs to have that Barry Bonds mentality,” Kingston said. “If they’re gonna walk you, you’ve got to take your walk. If they’re gonna throw a strike, then you do your damage.”
Having that type of mindset at the plate isn’t such a bad idea. Bonds, who hit 762 homers during his big league career, also walked 2,558 times, more than anyone in MLB history.
The good news for Petry is that Kentucky, who comes into town this weekend, pitches to contact. And that could bode well for him as he looks to get hot at the plate once more.
“Last week, I just thought he got out of the strike zone too much based on the number of strikes they were throwing him,” Kingston said. “And that’s why you saw him struggle. But it’s something he’ll learn from and he’s worked hard this week on it.”
