Stuart Fairchild's aggressive offseason changes are paying off for the Reds

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Stuart Fairchild’s RBI double in the first inning on Saturday was a result that he spent the entire offseason chasing.

Last year, Fairchild wouldn’t have been able to hit the ball in that way. A swing change has turned him into a different style of hitter.

“There’s a completely different feeling than what I’ve done in the past with my swing,” Fairchild said. “The ability to hit the ball on a line with backspin to all parts of the field was something I didn’t have in my tool kit last year. Once I started doing that, I knew my swing was in a much better place.”

On Saturday, while batting in the No. 3 spot in the Reds’ order, Fairchild had two hits on low line drives and drove in two runs in a 7-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels. He has moved up in the order and earned more consistent playing time because he’s making more quality contact than he used to.

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Last year, Fairchild stuck on the Reds’ active roster because he ran the bases well, played good defense and hit well enough against left-handed pitching. Due to a swing change, a new offseason plan and a new training program, he’s showing that there’s more to his game now than there was in 2023.

Last season, as Fairchild hit .228 with a .710 OPS and provided close to league average production for a center fielder, he was pretty much an all-or-nothing hitter. If he was on time and he squared the ball up, Fairchild tapped into his power to hit hard, high fly balls. But if he wasn’t on time, he’d roll over the ball or swing and miss.

With that skill set, Fairchild could have carved out a career as a fifth or sixth outfielder who moved up and down between Triple-A and the big leagues and bounced between multiple teams. Following last season, he searched for a way to take his game to another level.

“I’ve been figuring out how my body wants to move and executing on that,” Fairchild said. “The product now is a more consistent swing without the loss of any power.”

During the offseason, Fairchild linked his work with Curt Nelson, a private hitting coach, and Curtis Van Wyck, a private strength training coach. Fairchild has worked with Nelson for a few years, and Nelson has a long track record in the Seattle area working with big leaguers like Kyle Seager. Nelson connected Fairchild with Van Wyck, which ended up making a big impact.

“Curtis has done a ton of research into how the body moves and how people move differently,” Fairchild said. “Whether you’re a ground up mover versus a top down mover. There are a lot of factors to how people move. We identified how my body wanted to move, and we developed strategies and cues to maximize that.”

Working with these two coaches, Fairchild decided that he was going to eliminate the big leg kick from his swing. He studied the swing of Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star outfielder Corbin Carroll and asked questions like: “How does he have such a repeatable, efficient and quick swing?”.

Fairchild started making these adjustments in the batting cages, staying closer to the ground as he made contact. In early January, Fairchild swung outdoors for the first time with this new swing.

“Once I saw the ball flight, I knew that this was different,” Fairchild said. “It was hard to maintain my old swing over a full 162 game season. There were a lot of moving parts, and it was hard to sync everything up every single day. I wanted to be more repeatable and more simple to give myself a chance to put the ball in play more often. I’ve found a way to keep my body moving efficiently.”

When asked if this is the best his swing has ever felt, Fairchild said, “Easily. There’s a weight off my back.”

The Reds’ front office and coaching staff took note of Fairchild’s improvement right away during spring training. During the spring, he turned heads with his results in games, with the way the ball flew off his bat in batting practice and the way he chased down balls in the outfield during defensive drills.

Fairchild has carried those improvements into the regular season and is playing the best baseball of his big league career.

“Not to compare, but he’s at the top as far as work ethic and trying to become the best hitter he can be,” Reds manager David Bell said.

Following Saturday’s win, Fairchild was still only hitting .256 with a .608 OPS. But his quality at-bats and consistent line drives led to him moving up in the order to the No. 3 spot when the Reds face left-handed pitchers. While Fairchild still isn’t getting regular playing time against right-handers, Bell said that he’s looking for opportunities to make that happen more often.

Fairchild has been the Reds’ best outfield defender, he’s making an impact on the bases with his standout speed and he’s developing into a more well-rounded offensive player.

“Stu deserves all the credit,” Bell said. “He’s an incredibly hard worker. More importantly, he’s a good player. He just needs the opportunity to play. He has done a lot of good things to help us win games. To have a big night like that and consistently have good at-bats, it’s nice to see the work pay off and get the results that he deserves.”

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Stuart Fairchild's offseason adjustments have led to a step forward