Isiah Kiner-Falefa energized with switch from Rangers to Yankees

Isiah Kiner-Falefa doesn’t stop moving. Not in the batters’ box, when his swing is the type that engages his entire body – the leg kick, the stride, the propensity for contact, even on pitches outside the zone. Or in the field, where the shortstop is a ball of potential energy that’s already saved three runs.  

So it was hard for him when he was on the Rangers – muddling his way through three seasons where the team finished in last place, and one shining moment where they managed to finish as high as third. Knowing that the playoffs are an impossibility leads to stagnation, he said Tuesday, and for him last season, it also meant a July swoon. He had to make goals for himself, and when the All-Star Game came and went without him getting the call, Kiner-Falefa was confronted with something akin to existential dread.

The All-Star Game “was one of my goals on that team [because] we’re not playing for the playoffs,” he said. “So [after], I kind of lost track of what I was doing with the season, like why I’m there. What am I doing? And here, every day, we’re out to win. So if I’m not playing well, if I’m playing well, [what's important is that] I can contribute.”

Kiner-Falefa rebounded in August and beyond last year, hitting .299 in that stretch after hitting .188 in July, but that slice of a season gives insight to his personality, and what he's been able to accomplish so far with the Yankees. Going into Tuesday, he’s slashing .277/.326/.349 in a year where offenses are down, and he’s done it after incorporating major adjustments to his swing in the offseason. Specifically, he added a leg kick, and is engaging his entire body more, he said – changes he made after working with Justin Turner's personal hitting instructor, Doug Latta.

“I think last year, with the way pitchers were evolving, I tried to work in a little more of a no stride and kind of a set stance of taking my athleticism out, which didn’t really help,” he said. “But now I’m trying to bring my athleticism back in and it’s what I do at shortstop – I’m trying to be as fluid as I am” at the position.

And though the statistical differences aren’t staggering, there are a few notable improvements. His hard-hit rate is up, from 28.6% to 36.2%, according to Baseball Savant. And when you’re as fast as Kiner-Falefa, and make contact as much as he does (92.3% on balls in the zone, and 67.4% on balls out of it), good things can happen.

He’s also chasing balls outside of the zone less this year, something that he also attributes to using his entire body.

“I feel like the more I move, the more I’m able to differentiate the velocity of pitches,” he said. “I felt like when I was no stride and I wasn’t moving, every pitch kind of looked the same in a way. But the more I move, the more I can tell the velocity difference.”

Aaron Boone, who noted how difficult it is to make big changes to your swing and have them make an impact, said Kiner-Falefa has had success specifically because he puzzles things out, rather than shifting things for the sake of shifting them.

“He applies a lot of the adjustments he’s made but I also think he’s reverted to some of the things that have made him successful,” Boone said. “OK, this is something that’s worked for me. This is something I worked on this winter that went well. Or this is something I don’t necessarily think that I can apply…[He’s] gaining some of the fruits of trying something new and trying to evolve your game.”

It also helps that he's now part of an organization that speaks to him. After years of playing on a team that wasn't going anywhere, pressure feels like a privilege.

“I like winning,” he said. “And this organization is all about winning. Pressure comes with winning, and that’s something I’ve always wanted, being on a last-place team for the last three years, four years wasn’t fun. And you have no attention – none of that. So just coming here and having that is awesome.”

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.