Spencer Steer's season has shown him a new perspective

For Spencer Steer, the toughest part of this season took place in early May. He was just starting to feel like he was getting hot. And then, as soon as he started to feel good about the direction he was trending toward, he fell back into another 0-for stretch and ended up right back where he started.

“It was like climbing a mountain and I just kept falling backwards,” Steer said. “Every time I made progress, I just kept falling backwards. I just couldn’t find my footing. That was the toughest part. We were struggling as a team too, and I felt like I wasn’t pulling my weight. Having those serious doubts of am I just not a good player anymore? Fighting those mental battles, that was the toughest part.”

On Friday, Steer became the first Reds player since 2021 to hit three home runs in a game. On Sunday, he provided the game-tying single in the ninth inning against Padres’ All-Star closer Robert Suarez to set the stage for the walk-off later in the inning.

Steer is hot at the plate right now, and he has also been in a good spot for well over a month. Since May 11, Steer’s .312 batting average is the third-best in the National League (among hitters with at least 150 plate appearances).

He looks like Spencer Steer.

Early on this season, he spent every day trying to not get caught up in his struggles. Now that he’s swinging that bat well again, he keeps telling himself that he can’t get caught up in his success, either.

“The numbers are what they are,” Steer said. “Who cares what the numbers look like?”

Before this season, the story of Steer’s career was how steady he had always been. As a rookie in 2023, he won the team MVP award and swung the bat like a 10-year veteran. His ability to work tough at-bats, handle breaking pitches and maintain a polished approach at the plate caught everyone’s attention.

Steer carried that through last season, but he wasn’t quite able to recreate the highs that he demonstrated in 2023. Steer was battling shoulder pain for most of last season. He was frustrated with the final results, but 129 hits, 34 doubles, 20 home runs, 92 RBI and 25 steals is still a pretty good season.

The real frustration was yet to come.

In March, during spring training this year, Steer’s shoulder wasn’t getting better. The Reds shut him down for a bit. He was going to start the year on the IL. Then, Austin Hays tweaked his calf. The Reds desperately needed another right-handed bat. Steer couldn’t throw, but he could swing. He talked his way back onto the Opening Day roster.

“We weren’t even going to activate him,” Terry Francona said. “He was like, ‘I can DH.’ We thought about it. OK. It probably put him in a difficult spot. To his credit, he grinded through it. He really wasn’t himself. But once you activate somebody, you’ve got to go.”

Steer’s April was terrible. Because he barely played in spring training, he was miles behind opposing pitchers from a timing standpoint. Because of the shoulder injury, he also had to completely re-learn how to throw. Every day, he’d show up early to the ballpark, figure out how to throw again, get ready for the game and then perform terribly at the plate.

At the end of April, Steer was hitting .174 with a .519 OPS.

“When you start cold and you’re looking up there at your stats every day and you’re slowly trying to chip away at it, it’s a big mental battle,” Austin Hays said. “It’s really all mental trying to get out of that.”

Hays went through a similar experience during the 2024 season with the Orioles. Last year, Hays was hitting .111 at the end of April. That slow start set in motion Hays’ role on the team diminishing and made him expandable in a trade.

“It’s tough to not look up there (early in the season when you’re slumping) and be unhappy with where you’re at,” Hays said. “Steer did a great job of handling it the right way. Obviously, people get frustrated and get upset. You have a standard for yourself. When you’re not meeting it, it’s a hard thing to navigate. He did a great job of never letting his work slip away.”

Just over three weeks of the season, Steer was cleared to play the field again. That helped him feel like “more of a complete player.” He never quite figured out what to do with his time when he was in the DH role, so he overthought his swing. Being able to play defense again helped him put less stress onto the bad results he was having at the plate.

As Steer was slumping, so was the entire Reds’ lineup. Steer was supposed to be one of this team’s best hitters and one of their only power threats.

“We all want to be a good team,” Steer said. “We all want to win so bad. When you feel like you’re not pulling the weight and the team’s not having success, you take it even harder. You double down on yourself. Fighting that internal battle was the toughest part.”

He tried to find the little wins in each at-bat. He celebrating things like taking a tough slider off the plate, hitting a hard lineup or working a 10-pitch at-bat.

“I’m taking those little victories and slowly finding my way back to a spot where I felt like I’ve got a chance,” Steer said. “It was a slow, steady fight out of it.”

The most concerning aspect of Steer’s season was his lack of power. At the end of May, Steer still only had four home runs on the entire season. Coaches emphasized the importance of saying behind the ball.

“The power just comes with doing the right things,” Steer said. “I get into the bad habit of getting out of my back side. Guiding myself forward and not having anything to hold on to to make the right move to the ball.”

Steer’s OPS on the season (.708) is now almost identical to the OPS that he posted last season. He has pretty much dug his way out of the hole he was in.

Steer’s three-homer game was an example that his power is trending in the right direction. You don’t have a game like that if you’re not doing a few things right.

Francona has stressed the importance of Steer hitting the ball the other way with authority during this strong stretch from Steer.

“I don’t think you can hit the ball with authority the other way without hitting with really good fundamentals,” Francona said. “When you drive a ball the other way, you’re on balance. Your head is where it’s supposed to be. Your eyes are on the ball. Then, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be able to hit some other pitches, too.”

This season, Steer has hit 10 line drives the other way with an exit velocity of 95+ mph. Five of those swings have been in June, including one of his three homers on Friday. Steer’s game-tying RBI single in the series finale against the Padres wasn’t a rocket off of the bat, but it was another well-hit base hit to right-center field.

“Now, he has turned himself into who he is,” Francona said. “Guys get to their levels. Watching him get there will be fun.”