Jensen Painter has hit more home runs this season than four entire Mid-American Conference teams and accounts for half of the Bobcats’ long balls. But neither he nor the Ohio coaching staff will call the right fielder a power hitter.
Painter leads the Bobcats in eight statistical categories, and his 31 RBIs are the second-most in the conference.
Last season, he hit only five homers and drove in fewer RBIs than he has so far this season. His .258 average was fairly pedestrian when compared with this season’s mark of .339.
Painter, though, said not much has changed from season to season.
Last summer, Painter made the rounds with the Southern Ohio Copperheads. He credits a lot of his success to tweaking his swing while using wooden bats during his “second season.”
“With the wood bat, you have to stay shorter and square the ball up,” Painter said. “In the summer, you see much better pitches — fastballs coming right at you — because the pitchers think you won’t be able to make the adjustment from metal to wood.”
Seth Streich, one of Painter’s teammates on the Copperheads and a junior captain for the Bobcats, was impressed with his teammate’s work ethic during the summer and has watched Ohio reap the dividends this season.
“The biggest thing I’ve noticed from last season to this season is the way he’s ready for every pitch,” Streich said. “It doesn’t matter if he’s ready for it or not. He’s such a powerful, strong guy that he can use his hands to hit home runs; he doesn’t even need to use his whole body.”
At 6-foot-3, Painter gives the ball a chance to leave the yard every time he takes a hack. Although his biggest claim to fame might be his long-ball potential, consistency is his most-valuable asset.
Painter has reached base safely in all of Ohio’s 32 games this season and averages well more than a hit per contest.“You look at Jensen, and you see someone that can hit for power,” Streich said. “You see someone who is going to hit doubles and is going to be patient at the plate.”
But there’s still more work to be done. Ohio coach Joe Carbone said Painter is too particular in his pitch selection.
“He gets too fine, looking for too much,” Carbone said. “He looks for the perfect pitch too often. I think he should be aggressive in his hitting.”
He added that it’s tough for players to shake mental roadblocks similar to Painter’s because the same lessons have been drilled into their heads for years, but Carbone credited the right fielder for putting the effort forth to change his plate approach.
“I told him, ‘When you’re big and strong, you’ve got power,’?” Carbone said. “But you’re not going to hit any home runs or doubles or triples by taking a lot of pitches.”
Painter was a three-time all-conference honoree and was named to the all-Ohio team after his senior year at Parkway High School. He played for Olney Central College during his first year away from home.
Although Painter posted good power numbers at Olney Central, Carbone didn’t recruit him solely on the prospects of seeing balls flying out of Bob Wren Stadium.
“We recruited him as a hitter, but we knew he had the potential to have some power,” Carbone said.
Since Painter set foot on the diamond at age 4, he has been a student of the game. His father, Stuart, played baseball for Bowling Green, but the younger Painter never pictured himself as a Division I ballplayer.
“Every day, my family reminds me that I’m living the dream,” he said. “I’m playing baseball pretty much for a living right now. It’s a privilege to play here. Many great players have played here, and I feel like there’s still more to come.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
