The Frustration of being a Jay Bruce fan

How does a guy hit 12 home runs in a month, then go 22 games without hitting a single shot into the seats? Over the last 22 games, Jay Bruce has hit at a .225 clip and driven in just four runs with no long balls. Thus is the life of being a Jay Bruce fan.

This is essentially what Jay Bruce did last year–only flip flopped. Good month, followed by month of zero counting stats. Sure he had the big finish with the memorable home run; but he essentially did nothing in the entire month of July.

At the end of May, Bruce was a sure-fire National League All Star. Not only has he played his way completely out of contention for making an appearance in Arizona in a few weeks, but he’s trending towards having another lukewarm season altogether.

And this is our frustration with Jay Bruce. He explodes for a few weeks of the season; gathers most of his counting stats for that given year and then disappears for weeks at a time and you wonder if he’s ever going to hit again. And at the same time, the problem with Bruce has to lay between the ears. You get the feeling watching him that Bruce starts to over-think his swing much like we do on the golf course. Pretty soon, things get too mechanical and there’s big problems.

We’ve been in this spot before, albeit a year ago and a month later on in the season. Bruce has got to get it going a little bit again. Let’s face it, the game of baseball and being a Reds fan is a lot more enjoyable thing when this guy is hitting.