Duggar delivers quartet of extra-base hits

No matter how much mechanical tinkering he did to his swing, Steven Duggar struggled at the beginning of May. But lately, the Giants No. 3 prospect is confident he's found the solution. And it wasn't as complicated as he thought it was. 
Duggar tripled, slugged three doubles and scored three times in Triple-A Sacramento's 7-3 win against El Paso on Thursday at Southwest University Park. The 24-year-old hadn't previously had more than three extra-base hits in a game, which marked his first four-hit effort of the year and the sixth in his four-year career.

"This game is full of adjustments and sometimes you have to just get out of your own way," Duggar said. "I feel like, in the early part of May, I was just kind of in my own way a little bit. I was searching for mechanical things that necessarily weren't an issue and not seeing the ball as great, not hitting pitches I should hit and chasing out of the zone."
The 2015 sixth-round pick battled through a 7-for-48 (.146) stretch in the first 12 games in May but began to heat up after that, hitting .297 in his last 15 contests. 
Sacramento skipper Dave Brundage thinks it might be Duggar's breakout game. 
"I think it comes at the right time," the manager said. "He and our hitting coach Damon [Miller] have put in a lot of time, and it's nice to see that he's rewarded with good at-bats. I think he's starting to turn the corner.
"I think young guys sometimes put too much thought into it and how they're pitching them, instead of see-ball, hit-ball-type of deal. That's why tonight was pretty special for him. He squared up all four balls. Arguably his best Triple-A game and best at-bats he's put together."
Gameday box score
The Spartanburg, South Carolina native drove the second pitch of the game to deep center field for his first double and tripled to right on Miguel Diaz's 1-0 offering in the second. He doubled again to right in the fourth and to center in the eighth. 
Duggar boosted his average 17 points to .273. He's racked up seven hits in his past 13 at-bats (.538) spanning three games. The nine total bases marked his most in a single contest since he homered twice and doubled on a four-hit night for Class A Advanced San Jose on April 17, 2016.
"It's more so just trusting the swing," he said. "Just trying to compete, battle through the bad times and simplify some things and just make some adjustments along the way." 
Duggar was hampered by a hip and an elbow injury and played in only 44 games last season. In 2018, he's taking extra measures to stay off the disabled list by doing more stretching and rolling out his muscles daily. 
"There's more emphasis on pregame movements and going through everything. The legs are good and the [hamstrings] are locked in and ready to go," he said. "The preparation is a little more stressed for me, just making sure everything is good to go and firing." 
Despite the injury-laden season, Duggar earned an invite to big league Spring Training and a chance to compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster. He hit .236/.323/.491 with four homers in 55 spring at-bats, which was uncharacteristic for the center fielder. His season high for roundtrippers was 10 in 2016, taking 507 at-bats to hit that mark. 
"I'm not a guy that's going to hit 30 homers in a season," Duggar said. "I'm just not that type of player. I'm more of a gap player and can run a little bit, so that's what I play to. But sometimes I'll get into one and it will feel pretty good.
"I feel like that area has improved a little bit and I feel like there's a little more of that to develop, but honestly when I go to the plate and try to hit homers, that's when things start to break down on me and get away from all the stuff I do at the plate." 
His biggest takeaway from Spring Training was the knowledge he picked up from Giants' veterans. 
"I think the experience alone was definitely gratifying," Duggar said. "But I think what I took away from it is that I can compete at this level. But being able to take away things from guys that have been there, like [Gregor] Blanco, [Austin] Jackson, you can go down the line, just being able to pick their brain and see the way they see it and implement it into my game that can continuously get better." 
Duggar doesn't want the help of his teammates in Sacramento to go unnoticed either. He said he discusses the intricacies of hitting frequently with fifth-ranked Giants prospect Austin Slater, Hunter Pence, who is on a rehab assignment with the River Cats, Mac Williamson -- who briefly began the season in Triple-A and was recently recalled from a rehab assignment -- and Chase d'Arnaud. 
"It's a total group effort, man," Duggar said. "I have a great set of teammates here and we push each other to be the best we can be." 
Picking Slater's brain might be an especially astute move on Duggar's end, considering the numbers the Stanford product has produced this season. Slater is hitting .373/.463/.627 and has reached base in 33 of 37 games this season. On Thursday night, he knocked a pair of two-out singles and two walks.
"His approach is second to none," Brundage said. "He's having good at-bats, he's squaring balls up, he's using the whole field, he's hitting for power, driving the ball to opposite field. ... I like his approach so much because he's such a tough out at the plate. He knows he's knocking on the door and he's trying to put pressure on the big club, and that's what you're supposed to do. You want to make noise in Triple-A and make a name for yourself." 

Duggar's stellar night complemented Conner Menez's dazzling start. In just his second career Triple-A outing, the 23-year-old allowed one hit with eight strikeouts over seven scoreless innings. After a rocky debut in which Menez (1-1) relinquished four runs over four innings in an April 12 start against Reno, he earned another callup to Sacramento because the River Cats' staff was impressed with the way he pitched. 
"The first one wasn't as bad [as the numbers say]," Brundage said. "He threw strikes, he pounded the zone and put the ball in their court. ...That exactly what a a veteran pitcher would do with the lead and that's exactly what he did."
Ryder Jones went 4-for-5 and finished a homer shy of the cycle.