Kernels’ Kuresa boils it down: Just hit the ball hard

CEDAR RAPIDS - To heck with making a ton of mechanical adjustments and all that other technical stuff. Sometimes what you need to hit better is to simply clear your head.

That's it.

'I've just been working on relaxing a little bit more at the plate,” said Cedar Rapids Kernels first baseman Tyler Kuresa, whose team lost to Burlington, 3-1, Friday night at hot and sweaty Veterans Memorial Stadium. 'I don't think I was having much fun my first few months here. At the end of the day, baseball is just a game. We're all out there playing a game. You can't take it too seriously. Sometimes you can overcomplicate things.”

Kuresa was sent to Minnesota Twins extended spring training May 31 after struggling through the first two months of the Midwest League season. He was hitting under .200, striking out and rolling over balls when he was making contact.

Teams began to play extreme shifts on the lefty hitting first baseman, with three infield defenders on the right side of the diamond.

That will mess with your head.

'Actually when I was here before, I was trying too hard to go the other way,” Kuresa said. 'Right now, I'm not worried about that. I'm not worried about getting a hit or getting out. I'm more worried about just hitting the ball as hard as I can. Just let the chips fall where they may.”

Kuresa got some good quality at-bats in at extended, then played 17 games at Rookie-level Elizabethton before getting the recall here earlier this week. The 22-year-old Californian hit four home runs at E-town and was 5-for-12 in his final three games there.

He was 1-for-8 in two games with the Kernels going into Friday, but was hitting the ball hard and to every field. No question he looks improved.

'It's obvious he has done work (on his swing),” Kernels Manager Jake Mauer. 'He's going to be an important guy for us, in the middle of the order, the rest of the way. He's going to have a chance to drive in some runs.”

'I've never had a season like this, where I've moved around so much,” said Kuresa, a 16th-round draft pick last year out of California-Santa Barbara. 'Going down to Florida and playing in extended spring training was a good opportunity for me. I had a lot of fun down there … hanging out down there for awhile.

'Then I went to Tennessee where I was last year, so I know a lot of people there. I think it was good for me. I'm just looking to continue the success I've had the last month.”

Kuresa even reclaimed his old clubhouse locker, next to good buddy and former college teammate Jared Wilson.

'Hitting, specifically, is the most simple or complicated thing you can do,” he said. 'When you make it too complicated, it gets really hard. I went down, and with the change in scenery, I started to have more fun. The game just got a lot more simple and started to slow down for me. That's really all that's changed.”

The Kernels dropped to 53-39 overall and 12-10 in the Midwest League's second half. They took a 1-0 lead but gave up two runs in the fifth on a Tim Arakawa double and another in the eighth.

Starting pitcher Randy Rosario (1-1) took the loss.

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