Cubs $11.5M veteran details key mechanical adjustments after one-upping Aaron Judge

Not many Major League Baseball fans are surprised to see Aaron Judge atop most Major League Baseball leaderboards to start the season.

The New York Yankees' captain is on a truly ridiculous tear, batting .412 through his first 30 games and leading MLB with a 1.235 OPS. But those fans wouldn't have predicted that the Chicago Cubs' Opening Day backup catcher would be outpacing him.

Carson Kelly signed a two-year, $11.5 million deal with the Cubs in December, giving Chicago some veteran insurance for youngster Miguel Amaya. Amaya got the Opening Day start during the Tokyo Series, but Kelly has had the upper hand ever since.

Sadly, the 30-year-old Kelly doesn't yet meet the minimum plate appearance threshold to qualify for the official MLB statistical leaderboards. But if he did, he'd lead the league in on-base percentage (.524), slugging (.891), and OPS (1.415).

So how did Kelly go from a potential backup to Aaron Judge 2.0? According to the Chicago backstop, some key mechanical changes made in the offseason have helped spur this unexpected breakout.

“I was in a place where I kind of needed to revamp my swing,” Kelly said, per Sadahev Sharma of The Athletic. “In the past, I was bat on the shoulder, very tall, having trouble getting to the low pitch and swinging at chase breaking balls. So how do I put myself in a better position?”

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“I shifted the weight to hold all the energy in the back. When I get set, I have a lot of weight in that back leg and I’m trying to stay grounded.”

The Cubs have been batting Kelly in the cleanup spot recently, and he's deserved it. Not only does he have seven home runs, but he's racked up 15 walks to just five strikeouts on the season.

Of course, it's only 63 plate appearances. But Kelly can fall off significantly from this point and still have a career-best season by a wide margin. And if these mechanical changes have truly taken hold, he could be a difference-maker in his team's quest for a division title.

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