There was something different about Jake Elmore when he made his Tampa Bay Rays debut. He was a player who had always possessed strengths: good plate discipline, excellent versatility, and a nice track record of hitting left-handed pitching. However, his flaws seemed apparent as well. Elmore has a .291/.388/.387 line in the minor leagues, quite impressive on the surface, but players with little power often have a tough time in the major leagues. Was he ever going to hit the ball with enough authority for the rest of his game to matter?
Then Elmore homered in his first at-bat for the Rays, and while he hasn’t homered since, his newfound power has persisted.