DJ LeMahieu waited for his pitch.
It was an 81 mph changeup on a 1-1 count from reliever Dean Kiekhefer in the Rockies’ 11-1 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field. LeMahieu smashed the ball to right-center field for a double, driving in Charlie Blackmon from second base. Nothing unusual there. LeMahieu has been taking pitches the other way ever since he could swing a bat.
What was different was the power of his line drive. The baseball jumped off LeMahieu’s bat and smacked off the wall. This clearly is not the same player whom Baseball America once categorized as a middling hitter.