Performance on field belies McMahon’s love for Modesto

Ryan McMahon is in Modesto for one reason: to get out as fast as he can.

Don’t take it personally, Motown, since that is the goal for any minor-league baseball player. But all of a sudden, the Nuts’ 20-year-old third baseman seems really eager to get out of town.

Maybe it’s the heat, which flexed its muscle for the first time last week, and McMahon no longer can envision playing an entire summer under the scorching Central Valley sun.

Nah, that can’t be it. McMahon embarked on his send-me-to-Double-A surge three weeks ago, well before the mercury started to rise.

Maybe Nuts hitting coach Drew Saylor has it figured out.

“He’s a very special player,” said Saylor, in his fourth season in the Colorado Rockies organization. “I don’t think he’s done anything, specifically, different.

“One of our discussion points has been about knowing who he is.”

So who is Ryan McMahon?

“To me, he’s a line-drive, gap-to-gap hitter that has power,” Saylor said. “And when you look at players with that skill set, they’re few and far between.”

McMahon put up impressive numbers last season at Low-A Asheville (N.C.) in the South Atlantic League, where he hit .282 with 18 homers, 102 RBIs and an OPS of .860. Two years ago at Grand Junction (Colo.) in the Pioneer League, he hit .321 with an OPS of .984 and had 11 homers and 54 RBIs in just 218 at-bats.

“I’ve still got a lot of stuff to work on. Fielding, hitting, baserunning ... everything,” McMahon said. “We have a saying around here: ‘You gotta perfect your craft.’ And you do. You have to make sure you do everything the right way, the best way you can.”

In the first 38 games of the season, McMahon hit .254 (35 for 138) with three home runs, 12 doubles, 17 RBIs and an OPS of .811.

“This game is based on how well you handle adversity,” said McMahon, who leads the California League in doubles (23).

He’s taken some good-natured ribbing about his doubles.

“(Troy) Neiman and some of the other pitchers were asking me the other day when my doubles are going to start going over the wall,” said the 6-foot-2, 185-pound McMahon, who would like add 10 to 15 pounds.

But there is not a pitcher alive who would not appreciate what McMahon has done over the past three weeks. In 22 games since May 20, when McMahon was mired in an 0-for-13 slide, McMahon has hit .398 (33 for 83) with 11 doubles, 14 RBIs and an OPS of 1.072.

He’s striking out at about the same rate, a little more than once per game, and his walks are down, which would seem to indicate he’s being more aggressive earlier in counts, but overall, he’s been a much more dangerous hitter.

Like one who has his GPS programmed for Double-A New Britain, Conn.

“I like it so far,” said the Yorba Linda native, drafted 42nd (second round) by the Rockies in 2013. “There are a lot of good places to eat around here. I tried out Commonwealth the other day. ... I thought that place was awesome; I go to Bella Italia all the time.

“I like the city. I’m always up around the mall for some reason. I don’t know why. I always end up around there. But I love the field, I love the fans here, and it’s been great so far.”

And the heat?

“Man, it’s been hot. That 106 the other day was a little brutal,” said McMahon, rated as the Rockies’ No. 5 overall prospect by Baseball America. “But I’m not gonna hate on the city just because of the heat.”

This story was originally published June 14, 2015 at 7:33 PM with the headline "Performance on field belies McMahon’s love for Modesto."