Jason shoved the quarters into the coin slot before getting into position in the fake batter’s box mapped out on the ground. There wasn’t anyone else around, which he was grateful for, a buddy had called in a favor for him to be there after hours. He gripped the bat in his hands gearing up as the machine signaled the impending release of a ball. He gauged the ball and took a swing but the only sound heard was the ball hitting the padded mat behind him. He gritted his teeth getting back into position as the next ball was about to release, another swing and miss. He was getting angrier with each passing second and each missed ball.
He was officially in a slump, striking out more often than making contact these days. Hell the whole team seemed to be in the same slump. One run games were the enemy and kept getting the upper hand as the team went 15-25 since the Cespedes trade. He saw what people, so called fans, were saying on twitter, it was hard to avoid these days with the constant notifications of him being mentioned in a tweet. He tried not to let it get in his head but things weren’t working which was why he found himself at a local batting cage around midnight when he should have been sleeping up for tomorrow’s game. But something had to be done about his swing and there was no time like the present.
Grabbing more quarters from the pile on the floor he shoved them into the coin slot ready to take on another set of balls. He had spent two hours before coming here to study tape, looking at what might have changed with his swing over the course of the last two weeks in hopes of correcting and overcoming the downfall. But nothing he tried seemed to be clicking. Tapping his bat against the plastic home plate he took a deep breath before getting into his batting stance. He watched and waited for the ball to release; changing the grip he had on the bat moments before he lifted his left leg and took a swing. This time things fell into place, bat met ball and ball sailed back over the pitching machine a resounding “crack” echoing through the empty building.