Dylan Cozens is feeling it again.

After an abysmal 2017 campaign, the right-fielder is looking confident at the plate and making contact.

Monday night’s three-run blast in the sixth inning proved to be the clinching runs to seal another IronPig victory. It may be early, but the confidence is a refreshing presence at the plate and reminiscent of his 2016 season in Reading.

Last season, Lehigh Valley was loaded with talent and there were eyes on the powerful tandem of Rhys Hoskins and Cozens that were affectionately referred to as the “Bash Brothers.” There was high confidence that he would be with the group that is excelling in Philadelphia today, especially after the 38-double, 40-homer, and 125-RBI campaign in 2016.

Then the season began.

Cozens, one to always work on getting better, viewed his 186 strikeouts in that year as a number he needed to reduce.

“I wanted to put the ball into play more consistently, so I thought I had to change something. I thought it was mechanical,” Cozens said.

As he made mechanical changes, the good numbers he produced began to plummet and the frustration rose. At times he looked lost at the plate with little contact for his wide, sweeping swings. His on-base percentage dropped 49 points and his productivity on the bases dropped to eight stolen bases and scoring 48 less runs in 2017 at Lehigh Valley than he had at Reading.

“It’s a terrible way to feel when you are lost mechanically and lost mentally on top of it, you’re not very confident at the plate,” said Cozens, recalling the season in which he said he had “zero confidence in anything he was doing.”

In the offseason, the lefty-slugger went back into the weight room, healed his body, and came into the 2018 season with a simple plan.

“I’m just trying to put the ball in play more and not strike out as much.”

To accomplish his goals, he set his sights during spring training to fix the mechanics and the mental part of the game that had evaded him.

“(Mentally) being frustrated and looking too far into things is going to get you nowhere, it will just make you more frustrated,” Cozens said. “I’m just trying to go out there and have fun with the game.”

As for his mechanics, the slugger returned to his 2016 swing. It was a slow process as he searched for a good two-strike approach. To start the season, the numbers have shown some light at the end of the tunnel. Through nine games, Cozens has a .286 average with back-to-back multi-hit games over the weekend. On Monday, he hit his third home run over the past four games to go along with six RBIs.

“This is the first time in a year that I feel this good and relaxed,” Cozens said. “My hands are quick right now, I’m not tense at all, I’m not stiff through the zone.

Friday’s start was as complete of a game an outfielder could give. Cozens collected three hits, two of which were home runs, including one that left the stadium, clearing the right-field advertising tower in right field. He also raced down a key fly ball deep in the right field corner to save an extra-base hit that would have plated some runs.

If Cozens figures out a solid two-strike approach and finds swing from two years ago, the sky is the limit for the talented outfielder.

“If I can go back to that, it can play anywhere,” he said. “So I’ll stick with those mechanics and improve my two-strike approach and just be relaxed.”