Davis blasts another homer for JetHawks

After a terrific first three months of the season, J.D. Davis ran into a lull that bookended the California League All-Star break. His formula to snap out of it was a simple mix of mentality, coaching and study.

The Astros' No. 13 prospect hammered his fourth home run in as many games to continue a power surge from the middle of the lineup as Class A Advanced Lancaster held off High Desert, 8-5, on Friday night at The Hangar.

After batting .324 in April and .260 in May, Davis leveled out with a .277 mark in June but wasn't satisfied with what he considered a dip in production after a hot start to the year.

"I was very inconsistent throughout the rest of the first half, and starting at the beginning of the second half, I was not really going up there with an approach," he said. "Like any good hitter in the game, they're playing mind games with themselves, they overthink things. I was just doing that and wasn't really sticking with my strength and a good approach."

Davis went back to basics to get himself on track. Working with hitting coach Darryl Robinson, the Cal State-Fullerton product tackled his issues from both a mechanical standpoint and a mental one.

"It sounds cliché and everything, but when you're really in a struggle like that, you've got to go back and look at video of when you had success," he said. "You need to go back, keep it simple and play dumb, actually. Just go back to the fundamentals of trying to be short and just hit a fastball.

"Breaking it down, slowing things down and really working on my hips and the torque in small drills before BP, applying it to BP and then applying it to the game and getting good results, I think that's what the key was. Hand-in-hand, it goes with the approach. If you can put those together and get good timing, all the success is there."

With seven homers in his previous 12 games, the 22-year-old third baseman pulled a two-run shot to left-center field in the fourth inning, across the dividing line from his normal target at the plate.

"These last two, three weeks of success, I've been really being patient and disciplined in my approach, sticking to what I do best, and that's driving the ball to right-center," he said. "I'm really searching for a pitch, not really chasing for anything pitchers are giving me to chase out of the zone."

During his homer binge, Davis leads all Minor Leaguers with eight jacks since July 25. His 21 RBIs and 1.399 OPS are also tops in the Minors over that span.

Davis wasn't the only one swinging a power bat on Friday. Top Astros Draft pick and No. 1 prospect Alex Bregman belted his first California League long ball, a solo shot to center in the eighth.

"He's a great dude. He's a great teammate," Davis said. "He's always smiling, no matter what. We were so happy that he finally got his first one tonight. We've been teasing him for a while that he hadn't poked one out of here, but he got a hold of it tonight and hit it dead center. I think it was like the middle of the batter's eye. It was awesome for him. He was smiling around third, and we were happy for him."

Astros No. 26 prospect Akeem Bostick (3-4) allowed five runs on nine hits but worked seven innings to earn the win.