So was that Giovanny Urshela? He became Giovanny Urshela!

BOSTON – While Giovanny Urshela tries to explain the inexplicable, how a player with little power became a true Bronx Bomber, his eyes shine in a special way.

Urshela says all the right things. He gives credit to the Yankees, his third organization in four seasons, for believing in him. He credits his Triple A coach, Phil Plantier, and his Major League batting coaches, Marcus Thames and P.J. Pilittere, and talks about how a better selection of pitches and adjustments to his mechanics have been responsible for unleashing an unexpected level of production on the plate.

But the truth is that that shine is there because baseball has discovered who Giovanny Urshela is almost at the same time he discovered it himself.

In early February, the Yankees announced that they invited 21 players who were not on their official squad of 40 players to their 2019 spring training. On that list was a little-known Colombian infielder who had spent three seasons in four years divided between Cleveland and Toronto, and had been released by both organizations.

Urshela knew that he was much better than the one-dimensional .225 hitter with eight homers in 167 games that didn't measure up with either the Indians or the Blue Jays. I was confident that I had the ability to be a complete player, as well as those talented Colombian players who grew up watching and wanting to be like them, Orlando Cabrera and Edgar Rentería.

And although he flattered him, it was exhausting to constantly hear that his talent was limited to only one aspect: his incredible glove.

Urshela just needed one more chance. And it arrived in February, with nothing less than one of the most famous baseball teams in a country obsessed with football like Colombia. But little did the 27-year-old know that this preseason invitation would give a resounding twist to his career.

"I remember the first time I saw him in spring training," said coach Aaron Boone. "He started the training about 10 days late because he was dealing with a slight discomfort in the Achilles tendon. But I clearly remember his first batting practices, his first game; he caught my attention immediately because of the way he swung with the bat".

"The way in which the ball left the bat towards the center garden, and by the opposite band, and began to do the same immediately in the matches; quality turn after quality turn. And it has not stopped from that point on March until now in September. It has been one of the most consistent bats we have had all year, with solid contact day after day. It has been a lot of fun to witness it. "

That significant increase in Urshela's offense, with much more isolated power and solid contact, has developed since the Yankees re-signed the player to a minor league contract after being acquired from Toronto in exchange for cash. in August of last year.

It was then that he began working with the batting coach of the Yankee Triple A branch, Plantier, who helped him make the adjustments he has continued to this day. Aided by Plantier, and then in Major Leagues by Thames and Pilitierre, Urshela made adjustments to his batting stance, keeping himself a little more open and lowering his hands, allowing him to keep his hands inside and his fists up to have more control of the pot of the bat, which has resulted in a significant increase in its power.

"When I arrived at the Yankees I knew that I had not shown what I could do. Phil Plantier helped me a lot since I got there. As a professional, you take what is going to help you. You treat him, and if you feel comfortable, he you're going to keep doing it because it's going to help you, "Urshela explained. "In videos I realized that many times in the fouls that I had in my bat were where the pot starts. So we worked to put my hands inside so that the ball does not win me, and try to take the pot with my waist as fast as I can. Now this year I am seeing that my fouls are in the pot. And Marcus lets me work what I was working on. I talked to him about what I was working on, what Plantier helped me, and he helps me, when I forget something, he reminds me of it. "

But often the most significant changes can come from simple adjustments, and Urshela believes that having stopped watching videos from other players has been key to taking a big step forward in his career.

"When I stopped watching videos from around the world and focused more on watching my videos and improving my things, things changed," said Urshela. Before I looked, I focused a lot on seeing other players. I watched a lot of videos, especially from Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout. Then I said, but why am I watching many videos of them. They are tremendous players, the best of all time, but instead I started watching more videos of mine because I want to be a better version of Giovanny Urshela. "

"It is extremely important that players do not get too consumed with what other players do," Plantier offered. "As soon as a young player understands what he does well and who he is as an individual, subtle adjustments can be very useful once the player accepts who he is. They begin to live up to their potential. One of the things we try to do is to help players identify who they are as players first, and make sure that all their work is simply to practice to be their best version of themselves. You have to give Gio all the credit for how far he has come this year. " .

Thames, who has been a Yankee coach since 2015 and was promoted to a batting coach before the 2017 season, believes that playing in the Dominican Republic was also instrumental in the offensive development of Urshela. Urshela played two years of winter baseball in Venezuela with the Eagles of Zulia (2014 and 2016, along with his future teammate in the Yankees, Mike Tauchman), but last year he joined the Baseball League Licey Tigers Professional of the Dominican Republic.

"He went to the Dominican Republic, played, succeeded and brought that directly to spring training," said Thames. "In the spring, you could tell in the batting cage that I had a kind of aura, like saying, 'I can play at the same level as these guys.' And he brought that to spring training with us and he hasn't stopped since. He found a couple of things he was doing that made him feel he could hurt the bat this year. And I keep letting him do those things, but I keep watching him. But yes, I think playing winter ball gave him more confidence. "

"In my opinion, the experience that Gio Urshela has had in Venezuela and in the Dominican Republic more recently has helped a lot," Venezuelan coach of box players Carlos Mendoza offered. "Not only the success he has had, but also how to function in this scenario in a team like the New York Yankees. I think that Gio Urshela's experience in the winter league has been an important factor."

Urshela's passion for the ball began as a child, playing in dirt fields full of stones and glass. He refined his defensive skills as an archer at age 12, while dreaming of being Edgar Rentería. And although now you wear the striped uniform with pride, understand how ephemeral success can be.

"I have thought about that, in all the work that I have been doing to be here, playing with one of the most famous teams in the world, and remembering all the difficult times I have been through," Urshela admitted. "All those hours practicing every day. I always try to remember that and I always remember where I am from and where I want to go; continue working and be an example for all those children who have no conditions. One in a playón, sometimes not it was not a stadium, but it was a field around where you practiced. Sometimes it was the championship and there were no balls. Everything you've been through to get here. Sometimes many people think that everything has been easy, that everything has been gifted. But they don't know the job it takes to be here. "

Surprisingly, everything has been much easier for Urshela since joining the Yankees. And much of the reason has been the benefits he gained from being with them before his invitation to spring training.

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"Since I put on the Yankees uniform, things have changed. At no time since I was raised I felt pressure. I think I felt more pressure when I was in Cleveland than anything else. It was my first years and I wanted to do things well and that's why sometimes things didn't work out because I wanted to do everything perfect and be Mike Trout, "said the Colombian. "I always knew that you had to take advantage of the opportunities they give you. Sometimes there are not many opportunities that some players have and I had several opportunities. But when I arrived at the Yankees, I was already a little more prepared, I was more focused on how have a better result. And now maybe people know more or less who I am. "

With an impressive offensive line of .333 / .370 / .555 and 50 extrabases with the Yankees before landing on the injured list with a groin pull, there is no doubt that people do know who he is. And with the postseason just around the corner, thanks in part to what Urshela has done to take the Bombers there, the Yankees will have him back at the right time they need him.