Royals’ slugger Ryan O’Hearn delivered with a home run on Friday in his first game back
There’s not much better of a way to reintroduce yourself to teammates and reaffirm that you want to be part of the good thing they’ve got going than hitting a home run in your first game back in the majors.
Kansas City Royals first baseman Ryan O’Hearn spoke confidently and enthusiastically about getting a chance to help the team win after having been recalled from the alternate training site prior to Friday night’s series opener against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
A couple hours after doing the talk, O’Hearn walked the walk. He drew a walk in his first plate appearance and then jumped on a splitter from Tigers right-hander Casey Mize and lined it over the right-field wall for a solo home run in the Royals’ 6-2 win.
“It felt really good to help and to get the win,” O’Hearn said. “Those first two pitches of my first at-bat, I was just going crazy. I had to take a minute to relax, see the ball. Once I did that and took the third pitch, I think it was a splitter down, I caught my breath, relaxed and got back into my plan.”
O’Hearn, 27, went 1 for 2 with a home run, a run scored and two walks in his first game of the season. He’d spent the beginning of the season working with the Royals player development staff to refine tweaks to his swing mechanics he started making during the offseason and carried over into spring training.
In the fourth inning with two outs, O’Hearn jumped on a first-pitch splitter from Mize and smashed it 358 feet at 107 mph off the bat.
“I wouldn’t say I was looking for it,” O’Hearn said. “I think I just had the mindset that I know he throws it a lot to lefties. If I see it and it’s up and it’s over the plate, I was free enough to be able to put a good swing on it. And I did.”
At one time the projected starting first baseman for the club, O’Hearn was relegated to a back-up role this offseason with the signing of veteran first baseman Carlos Santana.
O’Hearn said during spring training that he’d embraced the mindset of doing whatever he could to be part of what he considered a team on the rise. It wasn’t unexpected when the Royals optioned him to the alternate training site at the end of Cactus League play in Arizona.
During his time in the majors (since 2018), O’Hearn has shown flashes of his power potential and ability as a run producer. Last season, he batted .387 (12 for 31) with runners in scoring position, the fifth-best in the American League among batters with a minimum of 30 at-bats.
He also batted .260 with five doubles, two homers and 17 RBI through Aug. 29, before his production dropped off late in the season.
The past two seasons, O’Hearn has slashed .195/.287/.351 with 16 home runs, 56 RBIs, 57 walks and 136 strikeouts in 147 games (502 plate appearances).
“What a great day for him to step in, very first one, and be able to contribute and do it with some authority,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “He’s been swinging the bat really well, and good for him to be able to take that to the next level.”
Last season, O’Hearn began the season at the alternate training site because of a bout with COVID-19 that interrupted his spring training 2.0/summer camp.
He got a late start to the season, and his first game last season after the club activated him was also in Detroit. He had two hits and two RBIs in his first game of last season.
So is there something about Detroit?
“Hopefully not,” O’Hearn said with a laugh. “It didn’t go great after the first couple games last year. So hopefully, no. I think it was just good to have good (at-bats) wherever it is.
“I did realize this is the last place in the division I hadn’t hit a home run, so it was good to get that monkey off my back.”
This story was originally published April 24, 2021 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Royals’ slugger Ryan O’Hearn delivered with a home run on Friday in his first game back."
