Outfielder Ryan Kalish fell so far below the proverbial Mendoza Line shortly after he was promoted to Portland last season that he was virtually invisible. Kalish began the season at high-A Salem and literally hit his way into a promotion to the Sea Dogs. In 32 games with Salem, Kalish hit .304 with five home runs, 21 RBI, a .434 OBP and seven stolen bases in 10 attempts. But in his first 21 at-bats with Portland, Kalish managed just one hit — repeat, one — which translated into a .048 batting average.
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“Honestly, it was a total mental adjustment that I had to make,” said Kalish who turned 22 on March 28 but was the youngest player on Portland at the time of his promotion. “When I got there, I wanted to do too much. I was putting pressure on myself and was saying ‘In this at-bat I really, really need to get a hit.’ That’s the hardest way to play the game — by putting pressure on yourself.”
By the end of the season, any resemblance between that Ryan Kalish and the Ryan Kalish who struggled initially with Portland was pure coincidence.Kalish was named Boston’s Minor League Offensive Player of the Year, and with good reason because when the final out was made, he wound up leading all Red Sox’ minor league players in hits (141) and home runs (18).
And, overall with Portland, Kalish hit .271 in 103 games with 56 RBI and 13 home runs.
Kalish’s turn-around wasn’t noticed only by the Red Sox but also by Baseball America which rated him the organization’s fifth-best prospect heading into the 2010 season.
The obvious question is “Why did Kalish pick himself up off the mat?”
“I went out there with my teammates helping me out and talking to (Boston’s psychology coach) Bob Tewksbury,” said Kalish. “I had guys like that behind me and I changed it from ‘I need to get a hit’ to ‘Okay, let’s have some fun with the game. Let’s get up to the plate and get a good pitch and hit it hard.’
“Stuff started falling after that. I took that throughout the rest of the year and gained my confidence back. It was an adjustment and it was hard because I was at the bottom of the barrel. I felt so bad and was wondering when I was going to get sent back down.
“You can’t play the game like I was,” continued Kalish. “It’s something that I learned from. There were tons of things – like, I’ve had adjustments in my swing. But this was probably the biggest learning process I’ve ever come across. I’m very glad I got it out of the way because it wasn’t fun.”
Kalish continued to show positive results during the Arizona Fall League where, in 21 games with Mesa, he hit .301 (22-73) with 15 RBI and a .364 OBP.
“It was so good to face the pitching we were facing,” said Kalish. “I mean, every day you have an absolute stud out there. Now, we’re seeing the best of the best at Double-A and Triple-A and it was a challenge.
“It was great for that. What I took out of it was I gained some confidence to know that I can succeed against these guys. Hopefully, I’ll carry that into this year.”
One commodity Kalish didn’t want to take into the 2010 season is an injury, like the broken hamate bone in his right hand that he suffered in 2007 which limited him to 27 games with Lowell – and which bothered him throughout the 2008 season that he split between Greenville and Lowell.
The injury prevented him from unleashing his swing like he had in the past. As a result, his power became a distant memory.
In a combined 114 games, he only hit a total of only five home runs.
“If I stay healthy and do what I can do, then I think the chances of my making it to the big leagues are way better than, obviously, if I’m hurt,” said Kalish quite matter-of-factly. “That’s my goal … that’s what we’re here for.”
“Here”, so far this season, as been Portland. And Kalish knows he must work on improving his versatility in the outfield.
“I think I need to master all three positions,” he said without a moment’s hesitation. “I have to be competent enough to go out there on any given night and play any position. That’s the only way it’s going to work.
“When I get called up, that’s the thing they’ve stressed to me – that you need to be able to play all three.
“Offensively,” continued Kalish, “I ended the season where I feel I have a real good approach. What I need to do is just keep the consistency rather than getting in slumps. I just want to minimize them as much as I can. That’s the biggest thing, staying consistent and being confident in myself.”
In effect that’s another challenge for Kalish who, admittedly, is the type of player who sets high standards for himself.
“I don’t think there’s any other way (to play the game),” he said. “If you go into a slump and you’re okay with it, then you shouldn’t be playing. That’s my theory.
“I set high standards for myself. I pride myself in working hard. If you don’t work hard, I don’t know how you feel right about going out there everyday.
“It’s something I pride myself in and it’s something that I’ve learned through experiences with teammates and through experiences with coaches,” added Kalish. “Hopefully, I’ll keep it up.”
As Kalish has climbed the various rungs on Boston’s minor league ladder, he’s expressed gratitude for the help he’s received from his managers – managers like Dave Tomlin, Kevin Boles and Arnie Beyeler. But one man who isn’t a manager was crucial to Kalish’s improvement last season: The aforementioned Bob Tewksbury.
“I would honestly have to say, because of the struggle I went through last year, Bob Tewksbury really helped me with the mental aspect,” said Kalish. “I was calling him before games and after games and talking to him. He was there and he understood. He knew I was hurting.
“He really helped me get out of that. In fact, I thank him every day and I stay in touch with him. I’m still going through stuff, whether it’s on the field or off the field. But he’s there for me 24 hours a day.”