BOSTON -- Sandy Leon produced offensive statistics in 2016 that nobody, not even himself, saw coming.

He entered that year batting .187 in 75 major league games after batting .238 in 612 minor league games.

Suddenly, he transformed into Mike Piazza.

He batted .310 with a .369 on-base percentage, .476 slugging percentage, .845 OPS, seven homers, 17 doubles, two triples and 35 RBIs in 78 games (283 plate appearances).

But he fell back to Earth last year (.225 average), then went 4-for-27 (.148) with no extra-base hits this April.

Has 2016 Sandy Leon returned in May though?

Leon has reviewed video of his 2016 swing and he adjusted his leg kick.

He's 10-for-32 (.313) with a .389 on-base percentage, .438 slugging percentage, .826 OPS, one homer, one double, three RBIs, four walks, nine strikeouts and six runs in 11 games.

Chalk it up to a small sample size, perhaps. But he feels much better at the plate.

"Try to just get everything simple," Leon told MassLive.com at Fenway Park yesterday. "Try to lower my leg kick to see the pitch better. I feel like if I strike out or if I hit a flyball or whatever, I feel like I'm taking good pitches, good at-bats and swinging at strikes. So I feel good right now."

He said "of course" he looked back at his 2016 swing.

"I was looking to see if I see something, whatever's going to help me. My leg kick, if I was jumping too much," he said. "I was swinging at everything (in April). I was swinging at a lot of balls. I was trying too much. I wasn't playing a lot."

He has played more this month. He started eight games during April. He has started 11 games in May.

Leon continues to take the most pride in his game-calling ability and rapport with the pitching staff.

Red Sox pitchers have a 3.58 ERA overall. They have a 3.09 ERA when Leon is catching.

"When I'm catching anyone who's pitching, (David) Price, (Chris) Sale, (Rick) Porcello, Eddie (Rodriguez), whoever's pitching, I take that personally," Leon said. "Every run they get is my run, too. Their ERA is my ERA. So that's the way I call the games.

"I don't care if I go 0-for-4, 4-for-4. If I help the team to win (with) an RBI or get on base or whatever, but my first goal is to try to keep the game close so we can win."