“He’s just able to get his leverage into it,” Wieters said. “He hits pitches that you shouldn’t hit out out, and I think it’s because of how short his swing is for a big guy. A lot of pitchers try to go places that normally, to a big guy with long arms, you can get in on — and you can’t get in on him.

“Also, for a big, strong guy, he has one of the most advanced hitting approaches I’ve seen, as far as how much he thinks about the game and how much he thinks about what the pitcher’s going to do to him.”

Trumbo said playing for a team built on power had helped reinforce the mind-set of driving the ball. But for all of his numbers — he also had a career-best .923 on-base plus slugging percentage and a major-league-leading 202 total bases at the break — Trumbo said the opportunity mattered most.

“The thing I’m most grateful for this year is, I’ve played in every single game, and as a player that’s all you can ask for,” he said. “You need those at-bats to be able to put up numbers.”

Finding a New Pitch

The case of Drew Pomeranz, who was traded from San Diego to Boston on Thursday, shows just how quickly a pitcher can transform himself by paying attention while playing catch.

Pomeranz was chosen fifth over all in the 2010 draft, by the Indians out of the University of Mississippi. He was then dealt three times in the next five years: to Colorado for Ubaldo Jimenez in August 2011, to Oakland for Brett Anderson in December 2013 and to San Diego for Yonder Alonso in December (with other players in each deal).

“I got to be around a lot of different people, a lot of great players,” Pomeranz said, “and I learned a lot from them.”