Duck Tales: Boog Powell views recent hot streak as a 'reset' during a tough season

Boog Powell prefers hitting with two strikes.

The Ducks centerfielder and leadoff man says two strikes force him to swing.

Two strikes force Powell, who prides himself on being a defensive hitter, to stay confident, even throughout a season that has tested him on and off the baseball field.

“I’m finding my groove again, getting a little more power and getting better pitches to hit,” Powell said. “If I believe I’m the best player and I believe I’ll get on base, I don’t have a doubt in my mind that I will. And that’s what leads me to success.”

Powell, who led the Ducks in runs and was tied for the team lead in home runs during the 2021 playoff run, spent last season with the Lexington Legends before returning to Long Island this spring.

“He’s a very unselfish player,” Ducks manager Wally Backman said. “He does everything he has to do as a leadoff hitter. He’ll bunt if they give it to him, he takes pitches like he’s supposed to, he takes his walks. He does all of the little things.”

Powell saw Backman at a Kansas City Royals tryout before the season and told him he’d return to the Ducks if a major-league team didn’t pick him up. But this season has been different for Powell, who played previously for the Athletics and Mariners.

“My dad passed away two months before the season started. It was unexpected. It threw me a little curveball,” he said. “I came out here and I wanted to play, but I was just not in the right head space. I was all over the place, and I was not confident.”

A fractured sesamoid bone in Powell’s left foot forced the 30-year-old to go on the injured list on June 14. Powell missed 29 games before the Ducks reinstated him to the active list on July 16.

Backman never lost confidence in Powell, sticking the lefthanded hitter in the leadoff spot in his first game back. Powell hit a sacrifice fly and walked in Robert Stock’s no-hitter on July 18.

“[Powell] was struggling early in the year. He had that foot issue that we found out about. I said, ‘This kid is going to end up hitting .300,’  ” Backman said. “I expected that. He’s that type of player.”

After Friday night, Powell was hitting .385 with three home runs, five doubles, 15 RBIs, 19 runs and 12 walks through 24 games since returning from the injured list. He’s reached base in 18 of the 20 games he’s started since the injury and scored in 16 of them.

Powell went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI in the Ducks’ 3-0 win over Lancaster on Wednesday and hit a solo home run in a 9-6 loss at Lancaster on Thursday.

Powell said his dad taught him to be a leadoff hitter when he was young.

He added that he’s more confident now after the injury and feels as if he’s playing with his dad.

“That [injury] kept me out for a little bit, but honestly, it was a great reset,” Powell said. “It got me back to what I used to be.”