Switch-hitting Heim hoping for offensive revival post-injury

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. Julia Kreuz contributed to this edition. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Jonah Heim said he doesn’t really remember why he first started switch-hitting. It was his freshman year of high school, he said, but he doesn't remember much else.

If you ask his dad though, it was Heim’s own decision.

“The way my dad tells it is that I told him that I was bored hitting from the right side,” Heim said. “So he told me to start hitting left-handed and I taught myself. It’s come in handy.”

The switch-hitting ability is what made Heim a vital part of the Rangers’ success early this season and what earned him his first career All-Star bid earlier in the summer.

And Heim with power and consistency from both sides of the plate is that player the Rangers need. It’s what they’ve been missing since a wrist strain sidelined him from July 28-Aug. 13. That same wrist strain has continued to limit him since he returned.

At the time he went down, Heim was hitting .280/.337/.479 and started behind the plate in 80 of Texas' first 103 games. Since his return, he’s hit just .189/.228/.311 in 24 games, though he may have had a breakthrough on Monday in the Rangers’ win over the Blue Jays in Toronto.

The switch-hitting catcher hit a game-breaking grand slam in the seventh inning (his second of the season) from the right side. At 107 mph, it was his hardest-hit ball since he came back from the IL. The previous inning, he knocked in a left-handed RBI double.

“It's just nice getting back to my normal routine,” Heim said postgame. “Just working through bits and pieces of it and obviously you're trying to get better each and every day. So just trying to find out what [works] and getting locked into both sides.”

For most of the season, Heim had hit better right-handed. But he’s hit more home runs left-handed.

Season numbers:
Right side: .329/.366/.500 (2 homers)
Left side: .249/.306/.436 (14)

Since coming off the IL:
Right side (10 PA): .375/.400/.750 (1 homer)
Left side (69 PA): .167/.203/.258 (1)

When Heim first came off the injured list, he was only able to swing from the left side due to the injury on his left hand. Now that he’s able to swing from both sides again, the Rangers are hoping he’ll round back into All-Star form, sooner rather than later.

“I'm seeing Jonah trying to, you know, get it back to who he is,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “I mean, starting All-Star catcher that did so many good things on the catching side and the offensive side. Right now, he's trying to get that swing. He's healthy, think that the swings are getting better. What I'm seeing right now is a guy who’s still trying to find his way at the plate.

“I don’t like the ‘trying to do too much’ [saying]. I think that’s an excuse, I think that’s a line that we throw out there. But no one is asking anybody to do too much. You know, just be yourself. You know, try to barrel the bat through the ball, get a good pitch, and if not, take a walk. We're not asking anybody to carry the day. And we hear that a lot. You know, trying to do too much. I don't think that's the case.”

Heim has been a vital part of the Rangers’ success this season. He’s an elite defensive catcher, and earlier this year he also became one of the most productive offensive catchers in the game. For Texas to succeed down the stretch, he’ll have to get back to doing that.

“We need this guy. He's a big part of our club. Obviously, when you look at our success for most parts of the season, he was right in the middle of it, like he was tonight,” Bochy said.