David Bote Finding Power Stroke In The AFL

The 2017 major league season saw prodigious outbursts of home runs by light-hitting players who suddenly discovered their power stroke. Reds infielder Scooter Gennett, who never had more than 14 homers in a season, smacked four in one game and finished with 27. Fellow Reds infielder Zack Cozart, with a career slugging percentage of just around .400 entering the year, finished with 24 home runs and a .548 slugging mark. Mariners first baseman Yonder Alonso hit 28 homers after never reaching double-digits in any of his five full seasons. More recently, Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernandez put his team in the World Series with three home runs in the final game of the NLCS.

The Arizona Fall League has its own pop-up power guy this year in Mesa infielder David Bote. Prior to 2017, the Cubs farmhand had never hit more than seven homers in any of his five minor league seasons before swatting 14 this year at Double-A Tennessee. Bote has continued his power surge in Arizona, leading the AFL in home runs (four), on-base percentage (.559) and slugging percentage (.931) at the season’s two-week mark.

Some of Bote’s power surge stems from opportunity. Until this past season, he’d never received 400 plate appearances in a season. Given a chance to play everyday, Bote got more opportunities to swing for the fences. But there also was a definite improvement in his power. His rate of one home run every 38 plate appearances in 2017 was easily the best of his career.

Bote, the Cubs’ 2012 18th-round pick from Neosho County (Kan.) JC, is quick to credit his Tennessee hitting coach Jacob Cruz and Cubs hitting coordinator Andy Haines with helping him generate more loft in his swing. With Bote getting more playing time and putting up good results, there was a reluctance to change too much of what he was doing. But Cruz and Haines pointed out what they were seeing and what the data was showing, and Bote was ready to make the necessary changes.

“It was a total buy-in sort of thing,” Bote said. “I trusted them and I trusted their research … they are tireless in their work, so I trusted what they were saying. I bought in and I’m starting to see the fruits of it.”

“In the second half he made some adjustments to his swing,” Cruz said. “We wanted to create a little more lift in the swing. He’s a guy who has an incredible exit velo(city). He’s always consistently hitting the ball hard. His launch angle was low, and he was hitting the ball into the ground or low line drives. The focus was to get those balls in the air.”

It helps that Cruz was assigned by the Cubs as one of the Solar Sox hitting coaches, allowing him to continue his work with Bote.

“He came to the Fall League with the intention of getting the ball up in the air and driving the ball,” Cruz said, “and he’s really done that.”

Another key to Bote’s future is his versatility, a trait desired by every major league team but especially the Cubs. He was regarded as more of a utility player earlier in his career, so he often moved around the diamond. While primarily playing third base and second base, Bote has seen action at every position except catcher during his six professional seasons, even getting on the mound a few times in blowouts. That versatility can only help the 24-year-old Colorado native’s chances of reaching the big leagues.

Bote doesn’t care where he plays as long as it gets him in the lineup. Scouts have generally opined he’s best suited for third base, where his average arm strength is enough for the position and his emerging power bat profiles well.

Talk to Bote long enough about baseball and he’ll give the impression that he’s a future coach or manager after his playing career. He’s thought about that possibility, but for now he’s focusing on his playing career. Cruz added that Bote has the people skills, baseball knowledge and the background for that type of role, but that he’s got plenty of baseball ahead of him on the field.

If he follows that career path, Bote will uphold a long family tradition. He was coached at his Denver-area high school by both his dad, a longtime coach in Colorado, and later by his older brother, Danny. Growing up around the game and the family support have been instrumental in Bote’s baseball career.

“I’d go to the field with my dad ever since I was 4 or 5,” Bote said. “I loved going to the practices, I loved going to the games, shagging BP . . .  just learning the game with him and my brothers . . . it’s been a family affair.”

Like many other players in the AFL, Bote must be added to the 40-man roster this offseason, otherwise he’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December.

The Cubs’ 40-man roster is currently full, and it’s especially bursting with talent on the infield. Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Addison Russell, Kris Bryant and Ben Zobrist aren’t going anywhere, and Tommy La Stella hit .288/.389/.472 in the pinch-hit/reserve role that Bote would like to fill. About the only infielder who might get excised is Michael Freeman, so Bote could find tough sledding trying to make it in Chicago.

With his experience and versatility, if he isn’t added to the 40-man, Bote could be useful Rule 5 draft pick. Even so, he doesn’t feel any added pressure to perform during his AFL stint to prove his case for a roster spot.

“You’re always being evaluated,” Bote said. “Every single time you’re on the field you’re being evaluated … if it’s Rule 5 draft or not Rule 5 draft or free agent year. I don’t necessarily put any extra emphasis on it because every day I’m getting evaluated. There’s always a scout in the stands, whether you’re playing in rookie ball or you’re playing in Triple-A or even in the big leagues, you’re always being scouted … The only thing I control is to go out there, work hard and perform the way I perform. Whatever happens is going to happen.”