Lemire: Jay Bruce aims to shed streaky past, find consistency for Reds

Bruce, Jay. Freed, man!

Welcome to life as one of baseball’s streakiest hitters.

Last year, Bruce made his first National League All-Star team. He was one of only three NL players to win multiple Player of the Week awards. He hit 32 home runs and drove in 97 runs. But he wasn’t satisfied with his performance as a whole.

“I hit .256 last year,” Bruce said last Thursday. “That was embarrassing. Not just hitting .256, but I wasn’t myself. I was capable of so much more. I could have helped my team so much more. I can honestly say I sold myself short a little bit.”

The baseball season is too long to avoid a certain amount of streakiness. All players are subject to prolonged periods of success and droughts that persist longer than expected. But few players have caught fire—and drastically cooled off—quite like Bruce has at various points during his career.

...It’s easy to forget that Bruce just turned 25 on April 3. The former first-round pick debuted at 21, so he’s a five-year starter who is still two years away from turning 27, which many believe is the usual peak for a baseball player. He’s been very successful, even if his production has sometimes come in spurts. Bruce’s 110 career home runs, for instance, lead all active players under the age of 26.