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Bandits’ Lacroix eyes strong finish to season

Revue de presse

Steve Batterson, Quad-Cities Times, Aug 29, 2018

Jonathan Lacroix

Jonathan Lacroix has his eyes on the ball and on a memorable finish to his first full season in professional baseball.

Over his last 10 games, the Quad-Cities outfielder is hitting .436 and has recorded multiple hits in eight of his last nine games.

He extended that streak Monday night in Burlington, undeterred entering the game as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning.

He split the gap for a triple in the seventh inning then pounded his fifth home run of the season on a two-strike pitch in the ninth inning to help the River Bandits finish off a 4-1 Midwest League win.

“After getting off to a slow start, I’m doing what I can to finish the year strong. I want to show the Astros that I belong,’’ Lacroix said.

Photo ci-dessus :Quad-Cities outfielder Jonathan Lacroix prepares for a pitch during a Midwest League game against South Bender earlier this season at Modern Woodmen Park. Lacroix has recorded multiple hits in eight of his last nine games. (Photo : Andy Abeyta, Quad-Cities Times)

That started during early work with Quad-Cities hitting coach Dillon Lawson.

The biggest adjustment Lacroix has made didn’t involve his stance or the placement of his hands.

It involved his eyes.

“I’ve been working with Dillon to put my eyes in the right place to fully see the pitcher’s release point and be able to recognize earlier what pitch is being thrown,’’ Lacroix said.

“When discussing things with him, he made me realize that I wasn’t seeing as much as I could to help myself. I’m seeing the ball way better now and it’s making a difference.’’

Lacroix’s recent work has extended a string of late-season success for the Astros’ 12th-round selection in the 2017 draft, who feels like he has been playing catch-up since signing with Houston a year ago out of Seminole State in Oklahoma.

The Montreal native followed the same career path as a former high school teammate and 2017 River Bandits infielder Abraham Toro, a fifth-round pick of Houston in 2016 who also played at the Oklahoma junior college before climbing to his current position with the Astros’ Double-A Corpus Christi affiliate.

“We’ve been friends forever growing up, same high school, same college, and now we’re playing for the same organization,’’ Lacroix said. “It’s pretty cool. We text each other back and forth quite a bit and when times have been tough, he’s helped me keep pushing ahead.’’

Lacroix watched his rookie season go by from a spot on the disabled list, suffering a broken bone in his foot shortly before last year’s draft.

He spent the offseason at home in Canada and arrived at spring training in late January, working to complete the rehab from his injury while preparing for his first professional assignment.

He arrived in Quad-Cities on May 8 and dealt with a less-than-memorable professional debut.

Lacroix endured an 0-for-4 game at the plate that included three strikeouts and also dropped a fly ball in left that allowed the winning run to score in a 2-1 loss to Lake County.

“I was nervous and it showed. I had waited so long to get back on the field after the injury, it was a pretty rough night,’’ he said.

Continued struggles at the plate followed.

By the end of June, Lacroix was hitting .200 with 19 hits in his first 95 at-bats as professional.

“That wasn’t me,’’ said Lacroix, who hit .447 with 17 homers and 67 RBI at Seminole State in 2017. “It was about as tough of a start as it could have been. My confidence was gone and I wasn’t the hitter I knew I could be. This is a game where everybody goes through tough times. Mine came right at the start.’’

The more Lacroix worked with Lawson, the more he saw things begin to turn around.

“When you look at where he was at right after he got here and where he is now, it’s pretty dramatic progress,’’ Quad-Cities manager Mickey Storey said.

“He’s put in a lot of hard work and the results, they’re showing. It’s all those hours before games and then carrying over what you learn then into the game that night.’’

For Lacroix, that progress has been measurable month by month.

He hit .250 in July and has swung the bat at a .318 pace during the month of August.

“Things are building,’’ he said. “I didn’t have the start I wanted, but I’ve been working hard all year to get back on track.’’

That has started with Lacroix seeing things from a different perspective.

“I’m feeling way more confident now in what I’m doing,’’ Lacroix said. “I’m seeing pitches, understanding what’s coming toward me where I used to just try to guess what type of pitch I might see. It’s making a big difference.’’

Revue de presse publiée par Jacques Lanciault.

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