Chatham keeps raking for Sea Dogs

C.J. Chatham sat with Double-A Portland hitting coach Lee May in the video room prior to Friday's doubleheader in hopes of finding something in his swing that would get him going at the plate again. By the end of the second game, it was safe to say the extra studying paid off.
The ninth-ranked Red Sox prospect laced five hits, reached base six times and scored twice as Portland split a doubleheader with Binghamton at Hadlock Field. The Sea Dogs lost the opener, 12-5, before taking the nightcap, 5-3.

Game 1 box score
Game 2 box score
"I talked with Lee and today was different than other days," Chatham said. "I really locked in with him on certain things, like video of prior at-bats and stuff like that. We both kind of agreed where I needed to be at. Today, I feel like I got there."
Chatham had gotten off to a hot start on the season but went 0-for-11 over his previous three games as his average dipped to .295 heading into the twinbill. When reviewing tape of the hitless efforts, the Florida Atlantic product noticed he was missing hittable pitches in the zone. On Friday, he got back to form and didn't miss many of those chances. 
"I was pretty much coming out of my swing on the better pitches," he said. "And the ones down and down and away I was staying down on, so those were really the issues. It was kind of my mind-set -- just lock it in better. But what the video also did was just keep me down. I'm already pretty low in my stance and I wanted to stay low. And instead, I was coming off and spinning off stuff."

The 2016 second-round pick started things quickly in Game 1 with a two-strike single in the first against starter Harol Gonzalez. Two innings later, Chatham legged out an infield hit and scored when Luke Tendler blasted a three-run homer. 
With two outs in the fourth, the 24-year-old pulled a single to the left side for his third hit of the game off Gonzalez. The knock gave him his fourth three-hit game of the season. 
"Obviously, when you get the first hit of the day, first at-bat, it's already a good day already," Chatham said. "I'm like, 'If I can stick with what I'm doing, I could get more.' You don't want to ever do anything different or run off."
Picking up where he left off in the opener, Chatham faced Mets No. 22 prospectRyder Ryan and beat out a grounder to third base in the first inning of Game 2 before scoring on Tendler's single to right. He delivered again in the second when he ripped the first pitch from reliever Stephen Nogosek into left field for another hit. 
Especially with the extra work that he and May put in before the game, Chatham said it felt even better to come through. Working with the veteran hitting coach this year has been a pleasure, and it's only allowed the Florida native to pick up more hitting tips.
"It was good, after every one of them I went up to Lee May and gave him a fist bump or he'd come up to me," Chatham said. "That was just the best part of it, knowing that we pretty much did it together. That made me happy."

After popping out in the fourth, Chatham reached again in the sixth when he worked the count full and walked.
He boosted his average to .329, good for seventh in the league, and his OPS to .820. This comes on the heels of a season in which Chatham hit .314/.350/.389 between Class A Greenville and Class A Advanced Salem. The shortstop has collected multiple hits in 10 of 23 games this year.
The competition might be better this season, but Chatham said he's not going to stray much from what's worked in the past. 
"It's staying locked in. The pitchers are definitely better. They kind of put it where they want to, there aren't many mistakes," Chatham said of the Eastern League. "But at the end of the day, the way I look at it is if it's a strike, you can hit it. They throw more strikes and that helps me sometimes, but I definitely think that I'm up for it."