BRADENTON, Fla. -- There may be no more volatile job in the major leagues today than hitting coach.
Teams seemingly change hitting coaches about as often as managers change relief pitchers. Inevitably, general managers will give the reason for making the switch as the hitters “needing to hear a different voice.”
That was exactly the Pirates’ rationale for switching hitting coaches at the end of last season. Jeff Branson and assistant Jeff Livesey were fired, and Rick Eckstein and Jacob Cruz were hired in their place.
Eckstein’s voice is one of reason. He has praised the work of Branson and Livesey and makes it clear he is not trying to reinvent the difficult art of a round bat trying to hit a round ball squarely.
Instead, Eckstein is spending spring training getting to know the Pirates’ hitters and learning their strengths and weaknesses. He is tailoring plans according to the player instead of trying to make them adhere to one philosophy.
“That’s where our head is, as far as taking this thing forward,” Eckstein said, “We’re tapping into each guy to reach more of their potential and play as a unit where we’re all on the same page.”
The Pirates’ offense was a subpar unit last season. It was 19th among 30 major-league clubs with an average of 4.3 runs a game and 25th with 157 home runs.
Neal Huntington and Clint Hurdle believe the Pirates hitters are better than that. They also believe, by using a blend of analytics and video technology, that Eckstein and Cruz can squeeze more out of the offense in 2019 and beyond.
“I think we’ve really put two new men for us into place that have their finger on the pulse of the offensive game,” Hurdle said. “They’re more proactive than reactive. Sometimes you don’t get results and a new voice can have an impact. The research both of these guys did as we went through the interview process, the experience they’ve had with analytics, with new technology, with new ways to measure, with new ways to instruct, with new ways to teach, it all just seemed like the perfect combination for us.”
The Pirates are tapping into Eckstein’s varied background. He was the Washington Nationals’ hitting coach from 2008-13 and has since served as the hitting coach at the University of Kentucky, was on the Angels’ coaching staff in which much of his job consisted of breaking down video, and was the Twins’ minor-league hitting coordinator.
All those experiences have helped Eckstein develop a favorite phrase to use with his hitters: “There’s a time to feel good, and there’s a time to hit good.”
“There’s a challenge piece in there,” he said. “What we’re trying to understand is what you challenge you need to get good, so it’s overwhelmingly positive.”
While Eckstein relies on data and understands the intricacies of the latest technology, he is not just throwing reams of computer printouts and a tablet full of videos at his pupils. Instead, he is combining the new-age way of doing things with the old-school way of communicating face-to-face.
“Our focus is a little bit more on a ground-floor level of timing and positioning and understanding that there are certain areas of the hitting area that we need to be really good,” Eckstein said. “There’s a difference between the strike zone and the hitting area, and within that there are contact points that are optimal contact points, and there are contact points that are sub-optimal. If we understand that everybody has a downward plane of their swing and everybody has an upward plane of their swing, where does that play for you?”
The message seems to be getting through to the players this spring. While the players have also gone out of their way to say good things about Branson, they also are connecting with Eckstein.
“I like him a lot,” Gregory Polanco told me. “He knows a lot about hitting but he explains what he’s thinking to you in a way that’s easy to understand. I think he’s really going to help our whole team.”
One of Eckstein’s biggest challenges will be trying to restore the power Josh Bell showed as a rookie two years ago when he hit 26 home runs. That total dropped to 12 last year, though the fact that Bell’s OPS+ rose slightly to 111 from 109 is an encouraging sign.
Team sources have told DKPittsburghSports.com that Bell’s falloff in home runs was one of the tipping points in the team’s decision to jettison Branson.
“There’s a lot of talent that he knows exists inside of him, and there’s potential there to tap into,” Eckstein said. “That’s ultimately what we’re trying to discover inside of him. The work ethic that he’s brought to the table, the mindset in which he’s working, the challenge in which he’s accepting has been tremendous. So far, it’s been really exciting to start that process with him.
“We all know that Josh has power. So, with saying that, how do you put him in a position where the power plays but it’s more building the hitter into a position that allows the power to play? He has a chance to be the best at both worlds, a really good eye at the plate, a really good hitter when the ball is within the hitting area and, within that same umbrella, the ball jumps off his bat. He hits the ball really hard and, at times, it goes really far. It’s just blending that package and not really trying to formulate anything other than how important timing is with him."