Why TCU baseball’s Zach Humphreys is finding success batting cleanup
Zach Humphreys is not your prototypical cleanup batter.
He’s a 5-foot-10 catcher who has been mostly known as a contact hitter throughout his TCU career. But things have changed.
Humphreys spent much of the offseason adjusting his approach and improving his power at the plate. The early-season results have shown the work has paid off.
Humphreys has become the Frogs’ cleanup man, batting .325 with a team-leading five home runs and 25 runs scored. He’s also driven in 21 runs through 21 games. This is a guy who had five home runs total in 144 games over his first four seasons at TCU.
“I’m not doing anything too much different at the plate except being more aggressive with my swing,” said Humphreys, a Midlothian product who returned for a fifth season following the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
“I feel good at the plate. I’m seeing the ball well. I know I’m seeing it well when I’m hitting the ball to the opposite side of the field.”
TCU pushed Humphreys into the cleanup spot for the series-opener at Louisiana on March 19. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts that night, but is now riding a six-game hitting streak in the role.
Humphreys was 2 for 4 with two runs scored in TCU’s 5-3 victory over UT Arlington on Tuesday night. In last weekend’s sweep of Baylor, he went a combined 7 for 13 with five RBIs and five runs scored.
Batting No. 4 has served Humphreys and TCU’s lineup well.
“I’ve never batted cleanup in my life until now,” Humphreys said, smiling. “My dad’s like, ‘What is a Humphreys doing batting cleanup?’ But we’re in a good position with the guys in the top of the lineup to get on base and I have a chance to get those RBIs. I also feel like I’m getting good pitches to hit because Gene Wood and Hunter Wolfe are behind me tearing it up too. So I’m feeling confident.”
That confidence has spread throughout the entire team. The Frogs (17-7) have won six straight as they travel to Oklahoma (13-11) for a three-game series this weekend.
TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle acknowledged his lineup may not have the traditional 3-4-5 batters in the heart of it that an opposing pitching staff fears. Instead, Schlossnagle said, this year’s TCU team has a lineup that can essentially be flipped from top to bottom on a given night.
“Our lineup isn’t built with a Luken Baker that is anchoring the middle of it,” Schlossnagle said. “Our team, when it’s playing at its best, you can flip the lineup. We try to have a little more overall depth to our lineup versus having those three or four guys who scare the heck out of you and everyone else can be pitched to.”
That philosophy is why Humphreys has become a perfect fit as TCU’s cleanup hitter. He brings a different approach to the spot compared to others.
“He’s obviously done amazing,” Schlossnagle said. “He just puts together the most professional at-bat, or close to it among the older guys on our team. He fits in there.”
