Halman breaks out of slump in big way

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Halman breaks out of slump in big way
04/28/2009 11:42 PM ET
By Mason Kelley / Special to MLB.com

As a top prospect, Greg Halman is learning ways to deal with pressure -- of the Mariners' franchise, of playing in the World Baseball Classic and, most importantly, of his own expectations.
It's taken about a month, but the top prospect is finally finding the balance he's been looking for.
Halman hit a pair of homers and drove in six runs Tuesday to lift the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx to a 12-6 victory over the Mississippi Braves.
"I always put a lot of pressure on myself," he said. Sometimes I've just got to take a little bit off and ... let my game take over."
It's been working of late. The 21-year-old outfielder now has eight homers, enough for second place in Minor League Baseball -- four behind Iowa Cubs' standout Jake Fox.
"I was way too aggressive ... trying to do too much, trying to go and get it instead of letting the game come to me," he said.
Prior to that, Halman had been trying to prove himself to the Mariners and the world at the Classic. He played in four games for the surprising Netherlands in the Classic, hitting .091 with a double.

"I wanted to show everybody that I could play, instead of just letting the game come to me and not being so overaggressive," he said.
Halman carried that same mentality into the season. It produced a couple of home runs, but didn't lead to sustained success right off the bat. He drove in three runs on several occasions, but also had a two-game stretch in which he struck out seven times.
Through extensive work with manager Phil Plantier and hitting coach Terry Pollreisz, Halman began to realize he was pressing.
"My manager and hitting coach are just working with me and telling me to put good swings on the ball," he said.
"That's what I've been trying to do. If I'm in that mode of trying to hit the ball out of the park, then it's all going to go downhill. I'm just trying to hit line drives and, sometimes, they go out."
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound slugger started to turn the corner with a two-homer, four-RBI performance April 24. In the past three games, he is 6-for-13 with three homers and nine RBIs.
Halman won't get too worked up about his recent success, adding that it is simply something to build on.
"It feels good," he said. "I'm very excited and I'm going to build off this. I'm not going to be like, 'Oh, this is one game.' No, these are things you can build off of."

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.