How a fresh start has revitalized the Nationals’ Curtis Mead

Curtis Mead is still trying to process the past year.

He’s been traded twice and played for Team Australia at the World Baseball Classic, and now he finds himself an integral part of a Nationals lineup that is among the best in baseball.

“It’s been a wild 12 months with just a bunch of uncertainty with where I’ll be, how much I’ll play,” Mead told The Banner. “It’s definitely been challenging. The one thing that I’ve had to hang on to is my belief in who I am as a player.”

Mead joined the Nationals in a trade from the White Sox for catcher Boston Smith after Chicago designated him for assignment. With Washington, Mead has made good on that self-belief. He has a .791 OPS with 14 homers. For the first time in his major league career, he has some comfort.

Mead is emblematic of the modern hitter. He rarely strikes out, he draws walks, and he hits for power. He’s also delivered in key spots for his new team.

In the Nationals’ 6-3 win over the Royals on June 16, Mead hit a go-ahead three-run homer. On June 24 against the Phillies, he recorded a pinch-hit homer — off a right-hander — that gave Washington a 4-3 lead in a game it eventually lost 5-4.

“Every big moment, he just steps in there and gets the job done,” All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams said. “It’s been fun to watch. He’s got 14 of them thangs. I didn’t know that was in there.”

Until this season, Mead hadn’t displayed much power at any level. He had never hit more than 13 homers. The power surge results from a confluence of factors.

From consistent playing time to being able to get his “A” swing off, Mead’s journey to realizing his potential dates to last season.

“It’s been a continuous process,” Mead said. “The White Sox did a great job of setting a plan in place for me for the offseason, and I really leaned into it and started hitting earlier than I ever had.”

With the White Sox coaching staff, Mead worked on becoming more upright at the plate. Because he lifts the ball naturally, he’s worked on getting to the contact point that he wants and being more efficient.

Mead also adjusted his hands to place them lower because, when things got away from him, his hands were often out of sync. He wanted them closer to the launch point so the swing would be more repeatable.

He’s pulling the ball in the air 22% of the time — the major league average is 16.8% — which usually portends more extra-base hits.

“Placing my hands lower ideally makes my swing a little bit shorter and more direct,” Mead said. “I can meet the contact out in front a little bit easier when a guy’s throwing harder and ideally a little bit more consistently too.”

Mead’s hard-hit rate has increased from 34.8% last season to 41.7%, which puts him in the 53rd percentile among hitters. Pairing his bat-to-ball skills with preternatural bat speed is why Mead has delivered so many extra-base hits.

When the Nationals acquired him, they viewed him as a good bat against left-handed pitching. Mead thrived against lefties and earned more at-bats against right-handers, particularly after third baseman Brady House was optioned in late May.

With the Nationals, Mead has benefited from the team’s intentional hitters meetings and clear message about his approach. Under first-year coach Matt Borgschulte, the team has individualized each player’s plan.

Mead said, in the hitters meetings, the coaches discuss pitch shapes, release height and how the pitcher they’re facing has sequenced his pitches. Having that information allows him to go into at-bats with a clear mind and approach.

“The hitting coaches have been helping me be more convicted in knowing what [pitch] I’m gonna get and making sure that, when I get the pitch I’m looking for, I don’t miss it,” Mead said.

Mead is an organizational success story, the perfect marriage of a talented player and the right opportunity.

“He’s accepted his role when he came over here,” said manager Blake Butera, who was the Rays’ farm director when Mead was a prospect in their system. “He’s done a nice job defensively, as well. He’s very similar to what he was when I knew him before because of how much he cares, how much he pays attention to who’s pitching, all those things.”

Mead has quickly fit into the young team’s loose culture. He said this is the first team he’s been a part of that stretches pregame together. But he also felt a kinship with the Nationals’ core of position players who are largely trying to establish themselves in the majors, just as he is.

“He jokes around with us, playing chess and all that stuff, so it’s fun,” Abrams said.

Mead is comfortable now that he’s not wondering when he’s going to get an at-bat. That certainty, paired with his swing improvements and understanding of how pitchers will attack him, has allowed him to achieve the sustained success that had eluded him.

“If you’d have told me in March that I’d be in this position, I probably wouldn’t have believed you,” Mead said. “I’m sure, at the end of the year, maybe I’ll reflect on it a little more, but right now I’m just trying to go about my daily business.”