SARASOTA, FLA. — Speedy outfielder David Lough arrived in the Orioles organization a year ago looking to be an impact player, but his first spring turned sour when he suffered a concussion in an exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox.
"Obviously, everyone knows what I did last spring with the concussion-like symptoms that kind of went through the season for me,'' Lough, 29, said Monday. "Kind of had a rough start. I had a good second half. Felt good at the plate. I told Dan [Duquette] the other day, it's the guy that they traded for. And hopefully he's here to stay."
Lough, who had solid numbers in his brief playing time with the Kansas City Royals in 2013, got off to a slow start at the plate last year, hitting just .159/.229/.205 through the first two months of the season. He bounced back to hit .337/.389/.570 the rest of the way, but the early slump clearly impacted his playing time. He had 88 at-bats in April and May, but only 86 at-bats over the final four months of the season.
"I think it was more of a mental thing," Lough said. "It was with me, I kind of felt it a little bit. And with baseball, you got to have a clear mind a little bit. If it's stuck in your mind, it's just going to be worse. And that's how it was for the first half of the season. And after that, I was like you know what? I just got to let it go. Play baseball. And I ended up playing a lot better."
Clearly, he's hoping to show this spring that he can make a bigger impact on the club.
"I hope … that [Orioles manager] Buck [Showalter] looks at the whole playing field here and sees what we got and feels that I'm capable of doing a lot of things to help this ballclub," Lough said. "Whether it's leading off for the team or doing something in a starting role."
Showalter believes Lough can build on last season's success.
"He was as good a statistical hitter as we had there for a while," Showalter said. "We know he made contributions in other ways, but I think he's got another level he can go to. I'm really excited about him. You look at him, and he's a very young-bodied guy. …
"He's got a chance to be a late bloomer. I like David. He's one of those count-on guys. You know what you're going to get from him. He's very committed to doing the things he's got to do to get ready."
It can be tough to get over a bad first impression, but Lough said he used that early slump as a learning experience and believes that he's ready to show Orioles fans who he really is.
"I've done some good things, especially early on defensively, that I feel like I always have,'' he said. "Offensively, people go through slumps and 100 at-bats is nothing in a full season. I look at those 100 at- bats as a way of getting through it and pushing on and playing this game the right way and showing these fans a little bit more this year."
peter.schmuck@baltsun.com
twitter.com/SchmuckStop