“With hitting, ultimately you’re reacting,” he said. “But you’re also taking calculated and educated guesses at what he’s going to throw. So the more stuff you can eliminate, the better your guesses are going to be.”

Teammates and coaches said Tauchman asked a lot of questions, even of pitchers on his own team, before and during games. Since he is a left-handed hitter, he closely watches how opposing pitchers attack other lefties, like Brett Gardner, Didi Gregorius or the switch-hitting Hicks.

“And because I hit ninth, I have time to see that,” he said.

There is one foundational pitch that Tauchman said he made sure he could always hit: the fastball. Hitting is hard enough, let alone when a player doesn’t start regularly or enters the game late to face hard-throwing relief pitchers. And with velocity increasing in the majors each season, Tauchman said, he always prepares for a pitcher’s best fastball.

“If it’s 96 miles per hour, I want to be ready for it,” he said. “And if it’s still 93, I’m still in a good spot. If it’s 94, I’m good. But I don’t want to be ready for 92 and have the guy throw 97.”

The result: Tauchman was 17th in baseball (among hitters with at least 75 plate appearances) with a .361 average against four-seam fastballs. Seven of his 12 home runs have been on fastballs.

The lack of power earlier in his career held Tauchman back. He hit no less than .286 in each of his first four minor league seasons, but with eight home runs total. So he sought help.