Sept. 29--NEW YORK -- Adam Eaton looks at his second-half surge in two ways.
On one hand, he wishes he had jumped out to a better start in the first couple of months of the season as the White Sox needed a boost to get a newly reconstructed club rolling. On the other hand, Eaton can't help but be pleased with playing so well late, especially since one day he hopes to be doing it in the playoffs.
While going 1-for-3 with a double and a walk on Sunday in a loss to the Yankees, Eaton tied his season-high on-base streak of 17 games. He has gone 38-for-102 with 16 runs scored and 16 RBIs in September, his highest hits total of any month in his four-year major-league career.
"I took something away from the early struggles I had the last two years," Eaton said. "At the same time, it's not bad playing well at the end of the season, because, realistically, that's when you want to be playing your best baseball."
Eaton hit .245 with a .309 on-base percentage, 18 RBIs and 23 walks in 81 games before the break. Since then, he is hitting .330 with a .413 on-base percentage, 33 RBIs and 33 walks in 67 games.
Eaton said he's not sure what the difference is between the two halves, beyond seeing pitchers better.
"I wish I could pinpoint it, because I wouldn't have had such a crappy first half," Eaton said. "I wouldn't have so many white hairs. ... I would say I learn a lot through experience of seeing pitchers. The first, second time I see them, I believe I make adjustments and can do that more successfully toward my third and fourth times I see them."
Eaton's first-half numbers were particularly weighed down by April, when he hit .192 with four extra-base hits, seven runs scored and no RBIs. He said he will try to pick the veteran players' minds in spring training to figure out how he can get off to a better start.
"Hitting a buck 80, or whatever I did the first month of the season, it's not good for the team," Eaton said. "It's not good for my mentality. It's not good for my family. It's not good for my Twitter account. It's not good for really anything. Hopefully we'll focus on that and hit the ground running next year."
At the same time, Eaton is happy he has played a career-high 148 games entering Tuesday's series opener against the Royals at U.S. Cellular Field, despite a shoulder injury in late July. He said an offseason training program prescribed by Sox director of conditioning Allen Thomas has helped him to feel strong throughout the year.
"(This season) proved to me I can stay healthy," Eaton said. "It proved to me my offseason training worked. I felt stronger later in the year, where last year I felt weak in the first month."
Manager Robin Ventura said Eaton has also made smarter decisions in the field and on the bases, so as not to hurt himself with an all-out, but ill-advised style. He played 123 games while fighting through injuries last season.
"He's able to throttle it back at times better than he did last year because it was all out or not at all," Ventura said. "He has kind of found that sweet spot being able to know when to turn it on. There's a time when he can slow it down a little and not be able to have to use everything to play the game. That's how you go through a long season."
ckane@tribpub.com
