Spencer Steer trusts his process at the plate, despite toughest slump of his career

Last season, during late April and early May, Cincinnati Reds outfielder Spencer Steer came up with a strategy to break out of the slump he was in. One night, he sat down and devoured an entire pizza. After that, he went on to have the best stretch of his young career.

One year later, Steer is in an even tougher slump. Over his last 30 games, he's hitting .174 with a dismal .520 OPS. Steer was in the middle of an 0-for-20 streak at the plate before he doubled in the seventh inning on Wednesday.

The pizza strategy hasn’t been foolproof.

“I’ve been struggling for a while,” Steer said. “The pizza isn’t something you can always turn to every night. I’ve had a couple. I’m battling and trying to find a way out.”

As the Reds work to get their season back on track, Steer is one of their most important pieces. He usually has an impressive combination of power and plate discipline, leading the Reds with 23 homers in 2023 and posting a .271 batting average. On a team full of young hitters who were making adjustments at the plate last season, Steer was the rookie who looked like he had already been in the league for a few years.

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Steer’s consistency was his biggest strength, but that hasn’t carried over into 2024. On Wednesday, as the San Diego Padres beat the Reds, 7-3, Steer moved down from fourth to sixth in the lineup.

“It’s definitely been tough mentally,” Steer said. “It’s probably the most I’ve ever struggled. At least the longest. I’ve learned a lot about myself and how to go about your business when stuff is just not going your way. I’m pretty proud of how I’ve handled it.”

For the first three weeks of the season, Steer looked like the Reds’ second-best player behind shortstop Elly De La Cruz. During the Reds’ first 21 games, Steer hit .307 with a .904 OPS, and he was the perfect complement behind De La Cruz in the order.

When De La Cruz was up, pitchers had to challenge him more consistently because Steer was doing damage in the No. 3 spot in the lineup. They also had to think twice about bringing in a left-handed reliever to face De La Cruz because Steer was having so much success against left-handed pitchers.

When Steer was up with De La Cruz on base, Steer’s ability to pounce at the right pitch made him their best run producer.

For the last month, the Reds have been missing that dynamic.

“I trust that I’m a good player, even when I’m not getting results,” Steer said. “It’s about self belief and positivity. I know that I can play at a high level. I trust that on any given night, I’m one swing away. I really focus on each at-bat and don’t let the last 10, 20 or 30 at-bats dictate how I approach the at-bat that I’m in.”

Reds manager David Bell said that Steer’s slump is a product of Steer trying to do too much. Bell said that this stretch started with some loud lineouts from Steer in late April.

“Just like every hitter, unfortunately, then you start thinking you need to tweak something,” Bell said. “A little here. A little there. You try to do too much. That’s normal. Then, it became a bit bigger than it was.”

During this slide, Steer’s timing against breaking pitches hasn’t been the same as it was last year. He’s elevating the ball more than he used to, which has resulted in pop flies and fly outs. And he’s not pulling the ball down the line as frequently.

“Through all of this, he’s in a solid place to hit,” Bell said. “Every time he goes up there, he has a really good chance. It’s just a matter of time. He’s struggling, maybe. He’s so close. He just knows himself so well. Little tweaks he has made that you don’t even notice because he’s very sound with his approach at the plate.”

Steer is in a better position to handle this stretch at the plate than he would have been early in the 2023 season. Over the last 12 months, Steer has established himself as a big leaguer and proven that he can be an impact player.

His track record of success gives him confidence that he has a strong foundation as a hitter. While it’s been a tough month for Steer, his underlying metrics show that he’s still making good decisions at the plate.

“My process has been good,” Steer said. “I feel that in the box. This is just kind of what it is sometimes. You’ll just miss a ball. Obviously you try to minimize that. But I don’t think that I can blame this stretch on anything other than a failure to perform.”

Steer recognizes that all of his veteran teammates have been through a bad month like the one he’s in the middle of. Jeimer Candelario and Jake Fraley had this experience in 2022, and Jonathan India and Tyler Stephenson went through it in 2023.

“What works for someone else might not work for me,” Steer said. “It’s really important for me to figure this out on my own. I’m trying to navigate through this. It’s a valuable experience because this game is tough. I’m just proud of how I’ve handled it.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds outfielder Spencer Steer batting approach during MLB slump