SURPRISE, Ariz. — When LaMonte Wade Jr. sustained a hamstring injury in May, he never truly regained the ability to get into his legs upon returning. The injury’s lingering effects wasn most noticeable in his stance, forcing Wade to get more vertical than desired. Healthy again, Wade is getting low.
“I’m just trying to be more into my legs,” Wade said. “My legs are feeling good, so let me use them.”
The 31-year-old first baseman arrived at spring training with a noticeably different stance, one that has him squatting down lower compared to last season. The tweak was suggested by Matt Swope, the baseball head coach at the University of Maryland. Wade has worked with Swope since 2021, crediting Swope with helping him find a cleaner, simpler movement. With an offseason to get healthy, Wade believes he’s putting himself in a better position to hit.
“When his legs feel good, he’ll get deeper,” Swoop told this news organization. “Obviously, he’s had some leg issues over the years. When you see those leg issues or injuries happen, I think there’s a tendency to stand more upright and get more vertical. I think he would prefer to be in his legs a bit more as long as he feels good and healthy and strong.”
Not only is Wade squatting lower, but his hand placement is slightly lower as well. Wade assessed that his hand placement was inconsistent last season and referred to footage of himself hitting in college and in 2021, the season he earned the “Late Night LaMonte” moniker.
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“There was a common theme (in those years),” Wade said. “That’s where we ended up putting the hands. That’s where I like them, so that’s where we’re going to go.”
Swope assessed that the tweaks shouldn’t just help Wade generally, but with middle-in pitches specifically, a location that has long been a weakness for Wade. According to Baseball Savant, Wade has a career .211 batting averages on pitches middle and inside.
“The emphasis was to simply the move a little bit to help with that middle-in pitch, which over the years is where he’s been attacked the most,” Swope said. “I definitely think he can hit that pitch. So, it’s something that we kind of dialed in on more this offseason.”
Wade’s adjustments have paid dividends so far this spring. On Tuesday, Wade homered in his first at-bat during live bullpen sessions, then drove another ball off the top of the right-center field wall later in the day.
“The stance looks good,” said manager Bob Melvin. “It means he’s comfortable in his legs and they’re healthy.”
With healthy legs and modified mechanics, the Giants are hoping Wade can replicate something close to last year’s pre-injury production.
Before injuring his hamstring, Wade led the majors with a .470 on-base percentage as well as a .426 slugging percentage over 166 plate appearances, putting together a legitimate case to make his first All-Star team. Upon returning from his injury, Wade posted a .316 on-base percentage and .351 slugging percentage over 235 plate appearances.
Overall, Wade finished with a .380 on-base percentage over 401 plate appearances, tied with Jurickson Profar for the eighth-best mark in all of baseball (min. 400 plate appearances). For all of Wade’s on-base excellence, his .381 slugging percentage was below average for the first base position (.399).
Wade says his legs are feeling good this spring, so much so that he floated the idea of occasionally playing outfield to Melvin. Even with Jung Hoo Lee returning to the fray, Wade will likely get his opportunities to bat leadoff this season. His on-base acumen is well known and is valuable in its own right, but additional pop would be a boon to San Francisco’s lineup.
