Ensberg returns to his old stance By Alyson Footer / MLB.com In the last couple of weeks, Morgan Ensberg seemingly has made some adjustments to his batting stance. But in truth, he has simply gone back to his old ways after a few attempts to make minor tweaks that not only were unsuccessful, but were largely unnecessary. Ensberg's wide-open stance -- one that is even more spread out than Jeff Bagwell's -- is actually the approach he used all the way through his minor-league career. But he tried a more vertical posture during Spring Training, an adjustment that had mixed results. Why the sudden change after batting better than .300 in his final two years in the minors? Simply, he wanted to obey his elders. "I was going into Spring Training without a job," Ensberg explained. "Fighting for a job, you don't want to act like you know it all. You don't want to act like you don't want to listen." So when his coaches suggested that he experiment with the stance a bit, Ensberg was more than happy to comply. "I didn't want to act like I know it all with my swing because I'm certainly willing to listen," he said. Ensberg's behavior was not unlike most rookies trying to make a Major League roster out of Spring Training -- listen, work hard and respect the knowledge and experience coaches bring to a team. "You don't want to just blow them off like they don't know anything," he said. "It's just different things for different people. I didn't have a spot, I didn't have a job, so when somebody tells you why don't you think about this or try this, and I go up there and completely blow it off, they're going to think this guy doesn't even try." And he tried, but the results were at times unimpressive. Two weeks into the season on April 14, Ensberg sat out during a Sunday series finale at St. Louis, giving him time to ponder his .214 batting average. In eight games since that day, with the old stance back in full force, Ensberg batted .290 (9-for-31) with one double, a homer and six RBIs. "Hitting is very difficult," he said. "Seeing what the ball does up there, you have to make sure that at least your swing, your foundation, what you're doing, is at least going to stay the same. You don't want to have the major parts of your swing keep changing, and if they do, you want it to be gradually. This is how I've always hit." That is just fine with hitting coach Harry Spilman, who wasn't so concerned with narrowing Ensberg's stance as he was making it sure it didn't get too wide. Spilman echoes manager Jimy Williams' words: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Said Spilman: "It seems like everyone says the same thing about him. It isn't pretty, but he just gets it done." Williams had never seen Ensberg play before he took over as the Astros' manager and said he is content with whatever stance Ensberg chooses to employ. "I haven't said one word to him about it, about his stance or how he hits," Williams said. "There's a reason why he's on this roster. There's a reason people were talking about Morgan Ensberg when they got to Spring Training. I wasn't about to say anything at all. I didn't have the right to. "From the organizational people that have seen him a lot, he might listen to them, but I didn't have that right. I hadn't seen him enough. If I had seen him for a couple of years, then I'd have an opinion." A month into the season, Ensberg and his coaches are in agreement that the player probably knows best in this scenario. "The type of player that I am, I just play," Ensberg said. "I don't read into stuff, I just try to play. You don't want to think about your swing. You just want to hit. It was getting to the point (with the old stance) where I was seeing pitches, but I was seeing them too late. I was seeing them, I just couldn't catch up. I was too late. I wasn't ready, because that's not how I hit." No one may know more about this subject than Bagwell, whose stance transformed from a more mainstream style to one of the most unusual among Major Leaguers in today's game. "It doesn't happen overnight," he said. "It progresses through the years. It has to do with making your eyes more level with the pitch, so you can see the ball better." Said Williams: "They get balance and they can get bat speed and they can pick up the ball. Whatever works for them." Ensberg describes his stance in a similar manner as Bagwell, who has said that he would never recommend that Little Leaguers mimic his crouch at the plate. "I would never teach anyone to hit my way," Ensberg said. "That's how I hit, that's how I've always hit. But I know that nobody hits like that."
