(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN)
Brian Serven is the master of humility.
He continues to have career days at the plate but continues to have the same happy-go-lucky attitude.
“It was more guys just getting on base in front of me and just stay(ing) with the philosophy of looking for something up with runners in scoring position. Luckily, they left some pitches up and I was able to get some hits and score some runners,” Serven said after his latest career-high six-RBI outburst on Sunday against Tennessee Tech.
“I think you just feel like you want to come up every at-bat with guys in scoring position and guys on base because you feel confident in every at-bat. It’s huge to have days like that where you’re just seeing the ball well, especially when everyone is seeing it well like today. It wasn’t just me, it was everybody. That helps all around—one guy gets a hit, it leads to another hit.”
Humility and selflessness are great attributes to have and they’ll surely take Serven far in life, but it doesn’t do any favors for those in the business of analyzing his swing and subsequent success.
Luckily though, we here at cronkitesports.com have gathered a unique scoop that will unearth the fundamental, mechanical and physical adjustments Serven has made that have ultimately led to his stellar 2015 campaign.
First, it was a mechanical change.
Following a 1-for-12 series against Oregon, Serven simplified his hand position at the start of the Stanford series on March 27. Instead of keeping them raised by his ears for the duration of the pitcher’s windup and delivery, he opted to lower his hands and rest them on his back shoulder. From that rested position, he now commences his load by shooting his hands straight back and then firing them straight at the ball.
“That’s designed to make me stay in it longer instead of pulling off the ball, which I was tending to do earlier in the season,” Serven said. “I think that’s helped me a lot to stay on pitches—offspeed pitches especially to stay back and just throw my hands at it and hit it hard.”
In layman’s terms, this adjustment is a move that would normally be made when hitting with two strikes, in which putting the ball in play is the reasonable goal. Or, it would be a move reserved for a strictly-for-average slap hitter—someone who’s game is built off simply making the defense make plays.
But the whole hands-rested-on-shoulder adjustment becomes fiercely paradoxical when looking at Serven’s power numbers. Tied for the team lead in home runs, second in slugging, second in RBI, second in total bases and an ISO that’s been raised 70 points in the last month are clearly numbers that don’t really fit the mold of a batting-average-only hitter.
Is there an entire reservoir of untapped power yet to be unleashed?
Well, Serven definitely denies it, but probably only because he’s humble.
“I’m not much of a power hitter, I’d say,” Serven said. “It’s just sometimes you get lucky and you connect on one. I stay with the same approach. I mean, I’m never trying to hit a home run, sometimes they come. I wouldn’t say I lose or gain any power from (the adjustment).”
Hitting coach Ben Greenspan had a somewhat similar take on the adjustment:
“The whole staff, we talk about stuff like that all the time. With him it’s just to simplify it. He had a little dip and maybe too much lift in his swing. We tried to just flatten it out and have him square more balls up and hit them hard. Not trying to hit balls far, just hit them hard and see what happens. He has enough strength that he hits balls hard and he’s going to hit them over the fence,” Greenspan said.
Regardless of the actual answer—whether or not there’s even more power to come—the point is the adjustment has worked and Serven isn’t planning on changing any time soon.
“If it works, stick with it—not try to overcomplicate things,” Greenspan said. “For him it’s worked. It’s simplified his approach a little bit, it’s simplified his bat path and it’s worked.”
But simplified mechanics only tell half of Serven’s hitting transformation story.
For the other half, it’s important to shift the focus back to Serven’s Jekyll and Hyde 2014 season.
Hovering around a .300 batting average until about the halfway point of the season, he then got into a significant late-season funk, finished at .249 and was a mainstay at the bottom of the lineup.
Yet based on what he’s demonstrated this season, it’s pretty evident that his end-of-the-season slump a year ago had nothing to do with a regression in skills. Likely due to his 45 starts behind the plate (only the third true freshman to accomplish such a feat in the past 20 years), he instead simply wore down.
Now in his sophomore year and batting a healthy .346 from the cleanup position, Serven is showing no signs of slowing down—something which he attributes to the addition of muscle during the offseason and the maintenance of that muscle during the season.
“More than (anything) mentally, it’s a lot more physical this year. I’ve been staying and lifting during the season, which I didn’t do much of last year. I think I’ve been able to stay strong and it’s been consistent,” Serven said.
Serven imparted that he has added 10 pounds of muscle—making him up from his listed 195 pounds to 205—and his coaches have certainly taken notice of his rigorous work ethic and respect for the process.
“You hope Brian would learn from last year—the experience of going through a year—and what is it like from a strength perspective, from a concentration perspective,” Greenspan said.
“I think you can get away from that as a freshman. It’s difficult as you get into that middle part of the season. I think he’s done a good job maturing as a player. For me what stands out as much as anything is just his strength. He’s strong. I wasn’t here last year, so I don’t know what his strength was like last year. In terms of the weight room stuff he’s as good as there is.”
The results for Serven have been tangible and the process by which it’s been achieved has been completely transparent.
So, the next time Serven is at the dish, take a look at two things: where he places and what he does with his hands before the pitcher delivers to the plate, and how much more filled out with muscle he is this year in comparison to last year.
Spanning from 2014 to 2015, Serven’s hands are lower, his muscle mass is higher and his stats are subsequently better.
Still, his humility remains constant.
“It’s a testament to his strength and his athleticism and a testament to the work he’s put in,” Greenspan continued. “That’s a credit to Brian. He’s one of the last guys in the cages and he’s one of the first guys at practice. He’s the gym rat of the baseball team… He’s been a joy to work with because he has a great work ethic and he wants to be good.”
Follow Jacob Garcia on Twitter @Jake_M_Garcia or connect with him on LinkedIn.
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