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CINCINNATI — For the first time he can remember, Cincinnati Reds second baseman Jonathan India just couldn’t turn on a fastball.
Hitless in his previous five games coming into Friday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers, India doubled in his first at-bat, but it was an inside-out swing to the opposite field. In the fourth inning, India had another hit on a fastball, but again it was to right field. But it wasn’t until his third at-bat, that he turned on a ball, hitting a grand slam to lead the Reds to a 9-6 victory over the Dodgers at Great American Ball Park.
“Usually my strength is turning on balls and hitting doubles down the line,” India said. “It’s weird.”
All season long, India’s been searching and searching for that swing, watching video after video of himself when he was turning on balls, doing damage. Finally, on Friday, he saw one that clicked. It wasn’t the first time he’d looked at a video of his first year in the league when he won the National League Rookie of the Year, but he said Friday that he just saw it a little differently.
“My toe-tap, my hands were in a certain spot and I was able to get to everything,” India said.
That first year, 2021, India felt like he had that swing for most of the season when he’d dialed it in, became the Reds’ leadoff man and brought energy to the team.
That energy never stopped, but so far this season, his production had. Not only was his batting average threatening to fall below .200, starting the night at .208, but he didn’t have an extra-base hit since May 7, and just six of his 32 hits all season were for extra bases. His two home runs were to straight-away center and right field.
In a season where nothing has seemed to go right for the Reds, they were finally getting something going. Trailing by two entering the fifth, Stuart Fairchild led off the inning before Spencer Steer worked a walk to end Dodgers’ starter James Paxton’s night. Reliever Yohan Ramírez came in and threw 13 pitches, just one for a strike, hitting two Reds and walking another, forcing in the tying run.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought in right-hander Alex Vesia to face India.
If there’s one thing India has been able to do this year, it’s take pitches and foul off pitches. His chase rate of 16 percent is in the 98th percentile in all of baseball. So when Vesia’s first three pitches were nowhere near the strike zone, it looked as if he’d give the Reds the lead without ever swinging the bat. Vesia’s fourth pitch was a called strike on the inside of the plate. His fifth was a fastball on the outside of the plate that India fouled off. The sixth pitch, a 92.8-mph fastball, was belt-high on the inner third of the plate, the type of pitch the Rookie of the Year version of India hammered.
That guy did it again.
“I was telling myself, ‘F—, it’s about time. It’s about time I did that s—,’” India said. “It’s special because that’s what I was searching for.”
What a grand night… #ATOBTTR!
FINAL: Reds 9, Dodgers 6!
Celebrate at your neighborhood @Skyline_Chili! pic.twitter.com/6a94OWHzSu
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 25, 2024
It was the 51st home run of India’s career and the 27th at Great American Ball Park. He never doubted that this one was going out, that it was hit true, wouldn’t hook, and was hit hard enough and high enough to clear the wall in left. And once it did, India pumped his fist and gave out a scream, letting out two months of frustration and doubt.
“I was just thinking, ‘I can do it — I got that swing, that quick twitch,’” India said. “I felt like I haven’t been quick this year and I was watching the ball instead of trusting my hands and squaring the ball out front.”
India admitted that there were times when he wondered if it was gone. Those were usually fleeting, but they existed.
“You always have your doubts in your mind, but I’m always going to show up to play,” India said. “I’m never going to go out there scared of competition. I know I have it. I know I always have it. Definitely, there are doubts here and there, but in the back of my head, I always know I’m a good player.”
His teammates know it, too.
Tyler Stephenson, who is four months older than India and has played with him through the minors and on the Reds since 2021, was on third base during the pitching change and wanted to check with third base coach J.R. House to see if he did indeed predict the grand slam. Regardless, it’s a good story. But it’s also an example of what India’s teammates think about him.
“He’s the heart and soul of the team, leader,” said Fairchild.
Because it was India, because it was against the Dodgers, and because it was in front of 40,074 fans and even because it was in the team’s black City Connect uniforms that brought so much magic in wins last season, it all seemed to mean so much more.
Just 4-16 in May, the Reds beat the Dodgers in the first game of a four-game series in Los Angeles a week ago before dropping the final three. The Reds then won the first game of their three-game set at home to the San Diego Padres before dropping the final two and haven’t won a series in May. But Friday felt like more of a breakthrough precisely because of who it was that stepped up when his team needed him the most.
“There’s no question, Jonathan is such a good player, he’s so well-liked, that’s the thing — when you have a close team like this, you feel the pain your teammates are going through,” Reds manager David Bell said. “This can be said for everybody, but to see the endless work pay off is a bit of a relief.”
Yes, it’s just one game. The Reds are still 21-30. Just as one loss is just one of 162, so too is one win. But some wins — and some losses — can mean more. In the first 51 games, the Reds have had more of the latter, but there was something about this one that felt bigger. It was what the team needed at the right time, and maybe more importantly, it was the right player at the right time to kick-start the team.
“It’s big — it’s a big momentum swing for us, especially with the stretch we’ve got,” India said. “The teams we’re playing, the travel, it’s a big win for us.”
(Photo: Kirk Irwin / Getty Images)
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Courtesy : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5518745/2024/05/25/jonathan-india-grand-slam-reds-defeat-dodgers/