Power reset: How Horseshoes' first baseman Tyler Butina found his stroke again

When Tyler But i na arrived in Springfield to suit up at first base for the Lucky Horseshoes , he was happy just to be on a baseball field again.

The Jefferson, Wisconsin native was drawn to Central Michigan University, where he liked the coaching staff that recruited him and he had hopes of making an impact right away.

A change in the Chippewas’ coaching staff changed some plans, including a redshirt freshman season for Butina.

He got to Robin Roberts Stadium rusty, but fresh and had a renewed focus on the sport.

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Through 34 games, the left-handed first baseman is eighth in the Prospect League with five home runs and sixth in runs scored (32).

He may have had the proper mindset when he arrived, but Butina said something was off with his swing.

“I was hitting fine, but not how I like: I was hitting a lot of ground balls. I’m a first baseman so I’m not that fast, so I shouldn't be hitting ground balls,” Butina said with a laugh. “At the beginning, I was hitting around .250 — nothing crazy — just not really driving the ball like I wanted to.

“I went home for a day, figured out my swing with my dad and tried learning something new. I had no home runs then; now I have five. I’m driving the ball more like I want to again. I feel good. It took around a good quarter of a season to get to where now my swing feels good.”

Through his first 15 games, Butina had no homers. He banged out five in a 15-game span.

“There was hard contact in there, we just weren’t finding consistent hits,” Horseshoes manager Brad Gyorkos said. “I think him staying consistent with what his approach was and he didn’t change very much.

“Sometimes, just going home and sitting in a cage with your dad changes things; our sport’s a really strange one and sometimes, something like that gets you going. Early on, maybe he was taking at-bats for himself, not he’s taking at-bats for teammates.”

Love for game shaped at home

Butina didn’t hesitate from an early age to take baseball seriously. He was traveling to different towns and cities in southeastern Wisconsin for the game. Throughout middle school, Butina was a three-sport athlete, but a broken ankle suffered during a junior football game ended his involvement with that sport. He played basketball throughout high school, but baseball was always his superior love.

Butina credits his dad, Justin Butina, for developing his love of sports, particularly baseball. Justin was a two-sport athlete at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played baseball and football.

“He’s a big influence on me. He still calls me every morning, makes sure I’m drinking my protein shake, make sure I’m going to the gym,” Butina said. “He’s always sending me old videos of my swing and says, ‘Keep your hands loose, like this, like that.’

“He’s had a huge impact. I don’t think I’d be nearly as good as I am right now without him. The second I come home, he’s got a bat in the living room and he’s handing me that. I wouldn’t be nearly as motivated or made it as far as I have without him.”

His dad has also lent Butina an ear when needed.

“I remember going home during my breaks and telling my dad I feel like I almost needed that little redshirt year (at Central Michigan) to spark my love for the game again, where I just really wanted to get back out there on the field again,” Butina said.

Getting that chance

He’s on the field again with the suddenly-surging Lucky Horseshoes. He’s hitting .276 with 30 RBIs. Springfield was 8-for-18 in the first half of the Prospect League standings and were third in the four-team Northwest Division. Through Tuesday, the Horseshoes were 8-5, tied for second place in the second half and had won six out of seven.

“When people redshirt, it takes them a while to get going; he hadn’t seen a live AB in probably four months before he got here,” Gyorkos said. “I think consistent at-bats and you get two, three weeks to kind of get back in the swing, so the timing makes sense. It's been nice to see him going. It just takes a while, getting consistent at-bats and seeing your name in the lineup every day is important.”

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Butina’s surge in production has been a big reason why the Horseshoes are challenging for a third-straight playoff spot.

“Early on, we didn’t have a lot of run production and we had maybe one homer throughout the lineup for two-and-a-half weeks, and that’s not going to win in this league,” Gyorkos said. “Once we found some run production, it really changed our lineup.”

Butina, who has transferred to Madison College , a two-year school, plans to stay in Springfield for the rest of the season.

“It’s fun to play games every day,” Butina said. “It’s fun to get out there and play games every day, whether you have a good game or a bad game, you play the next day. You can’t really ride the highs or ride the lows.”

He hopes to spend a season at Madison before transferring to a different four-year school to keep his career going. In the meantime, he will just keep trying to do what makes him successful.

“Just continuing to put the ball in play and continuing to get the job done for the team,” Butina said. “I was really frustrated the other night when I had one opportunity and missed on it, but I could have another opportunity like that tonight to get the job done for the team.

“I’ve noticed when I try to do that, I’ve done a lot better. I do a lot better when guys are on, because I try to be simple and get the run in, compared to when no one’s on, I try to do too much.”

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com , Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Power reset: How Horseshoes' first baseman Tyler Butina found his stroke again