# Confidence key in Hao-Yu Lee’s recent success, Tigers’ AJ Hinch says
Full article at link
Nice trade pickup from Philly, see how he continues
==
AJ Hinch is liking what he’s seeing out of Hao-Yu Lee lately. And not just for his performance Saturday, though that was pretty good.
And the biggest thing leaving an impression on Hinch is that he’s starting to see a growing confidence in Lee, a rookie who has appeared in fewer than 50 games to date.
“You tend to play with more freedom and play with a little bit more boldness,” Hinch said of growing confidence in a player.
Last weekend, Hinch spoke about things finally starting to slow down for Lee as he settles into major-league life. And with things not feeling like they’re moving 100 miles per hour around him, Lee’s play on the field has begun to perk up, too. He’s raised his batting average notably over the last month and has started to look more at home playing on the infield. And as things continue, Hinch is hopeful Lee is just starting to scratch the surface on the good baseball player that the Tigers believe lies beneath.
===
Take Lee’s catch on the outfield grass, tracking back from second base Saturday against Houston. Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter also converged from their posts at first and in right field, respectively, but Lee took over the situation, made an aggressive play and secured the catch with his back to the infield.
“Like, he went after that ball to go catch it, he didn’t go after it carefully,” Hinch said. “He didn’t really care where Tork was or where Kerry was. He felt like it was his ball from the outset. Things like that, I think, come with confidence. Confidence comes from experience.”
At the plate, Lee is growing, too.
His pull-side home run on a lefty slider against Houston’s Steven Okert on Saturday is a positive sign he’s starting to grow at the plate, as much of his hitting was to the opposite field early on.
“He took his shot against a pitcher that I would have matched him up against,” Hinch said. “That’s what he should do well against. And so I think that the adjustments are subtle.”
The stats tell a similar story, as Lee has taken his batting average from .192 on May 29 to .261 entering a series finale against Houston on June 28. Of 14 appearances in June, he’s been held hitless just three times and had five multi-hit games.
And as Lee keeps finding his form at the plate, Hinch expects the challenges will only increase as major-league pitchers and scouting reports adjust to challenge Lee more and more and press on the areas where he’s less proficient hitting.
“The decisions are huge for him because when he’s threatened with velo is when he starts to get him a little bit wild with his swings,” Hinch said. “And they’re going to elevate on him because if you yank the ball down against him, you know, he hits the balls as hard as anybody on our team.”
Series: Three games at Yankee Stadium, New York
