The 2017 season got out to a nice start for former 1st round pick Phillip Ervin. Assigned to the Louisville Bats to begin the season he hit .277/.324/.523 in April in his time in Triple-A. He even saw limited action in a brief call up with the Cincinnati Reds.
For as good as things went during April, they went just as bad in May. Over 92 plate appearances Phillip Ervin hit .176/.231/.200 for the Bats. He walked just six times in the month and struck out 26 times while hitting just two doubles. It was easily the worst month by OPS that he’s ever had as a professional.
Things got better in June for Phillip Ervin. He hit .250 and drew 14 walks with just 18 strikeouts in 104 plate appearances. That put his on-base percentage at .359 for the month. The power didn’t return much, slugging just .341 with five doubles and a home run. Still, it was a move in the right direction for the 2013 first round pick.
Last night Phillip Ervin went 3-5 with a walk for the Louisville Bats. It just continued hit hot string of hitting for the Reds Triple-A squad. In 57 plate appearances he’s hit .389/.411/.519 for Louisville. That’s come along with five doubles and a triple.
What’s been interesting is that he’s been a very different hitter since June began. In April and May he was hitting the ball to right field more than he was pulling the ball. That’s changed quite a bit since June began, going to right field about half as often. The other big change is that he’s gone from hitting ground balls at a 40% rate in April and May to 54% since the start of June.
He’s clearly been working on making adjustments at the plate. Outside of a terrible month of May, he’s actually hit well for the Louisville Bats this season. In 232 plate appearances outside of the month he’s hitting .295/.361/.444 with 21 walks and 42 strikeouts.
The overall line for the recently turned 25-year-old doesn’t look good at this point. His terrible month of May is still dragging things down, but he’s been improving for the last seven weeks with the Bats and changing his approach at the plate. We don’t know if it will keep going, but for now, it’s been working quite well for him.