Everything is starting at the top with Blue Jays
When Blue Jays hitting coach Brook Jacoby first laid eyes on outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, there were a couple of flaws he spotted right away in his approach at the plate. But the teacher allowed a few games to unfold before trying to make any adjustments. It seems Hernandez had a slightly closed stance and his setup did not allow him to fully use his wiry frame to full advantage.
“(The closed stance is) the biggest thing, that and his posture,” Jacoby said of the player who was promoted Sept. 2. “This kid comes here with a pedigree that he’s a hitter. He’s just showing us now what he can do.”
It may seem surprising that, at age 24 and with five season of pro experience under his belt, he arrived to the Jays in the trade with the Astros for Francisco Liriano as such a blank slate — easy to read and relatively simple to correct.
“I haven’t really been surprised by a lot of things that guys do,” Jacoby said of the work he’s done through the years. “(Hernandez) looks like he’s seeing the ball real good right now and he’s getting his swing off. What’s the surprise?”
The current duo at the top of the order has been leading a Jays resurgence, even if it’s too little, too late. With Hernandez and Josh Donaldson batting 1-2, it’s an encouraging sign for fans looking ahead to 2018. Jacoby has been with the Jays for every game that Donaldson has played here and believes health is the current key to the Donaldson outburst. This is who he is when his body feels good.
“I’ve got to think the body plays a big part for him,” Jacoby said of the 2015 AL MVP. “His swing is a very repeatable swing. He’s got his mechanics down very well. We expect this out of him (for a full season) next year. He’s shown that he can do it. That’s what he is. He’s driven. He’s driven to be the best player in the game and that’s what we got him here for.”
Donaldson has played a part in Hernandez’s learning curve. The home run that Teoscar crushed against Chris Sale on Tuesday, he credited to clubhouse video of both Donaldson and Jose Bautista hitting against Sale from earlier games. He was looking for an edge, but he had never faced the Red Sox ace before in his brief career. He decided that breaking balls were his best chance against Sale and it was a hanging changeup that he hit for his Tuesday home run.
“I think you can look at ‘like’ hit-
“He looks like he’s seeing the ball real good right now . . . What’s the surprise?” BROOK JACOBY ON TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ
ters and how they get attacked in the zone and what pitches pitchers use and go to,” Jacoby said of the advantages provided to young hitters by video scouting. “That’s all he’s got to work with right now. He doesn’t have a history with the guy.”
The Jays have struggled to hit with runners in scoring position all season and the man in the middle of the criticism always is the hitting coach. Jacoby has weathered the storm and come out the other side. The Jays have raised their season average with runners at second or beyond to .230. Individually there are some tragic numbers in that category. Bautista is hitting .189; Russ Martin, .172; Kevin Pillar, .170. The injured Troy Tulowitzki hit .193 in those situations. But lately Jays hitters have been delivering by using the whole field.
“You take what you’re given in those situations,” Jacoby said. “It’s not always going to be a pitch you can pull. It might be a breaking ball down and away but, in those RBI situations, special hitters drive in runs and they have a knack of doing it. Most of them you’ll see them take what they’re given and get the RBIs.”
So if there is nothing different being emphasized by the coaching staff, how is it that even against good pitching the Jays are being more productive?
“Guys are just taking their at-bats,” Jacoby said.
“They’re not putting any emphasis on the situation itself. They’re taking their at-bats and, if they get a good pitch to hit, they’re making a move on it. They’re not forcing the situation and saying that I’ve got to be the guy to do it here.”
The former major-league infielder understands that over the course of 162 games there are going to be slumps, but these lulls can be compounded with thinking too much. It’s not always hard work and a couple of broken-bat singles that are slump-busters. Sometimes the slump can drag on and even spread through a lineup
“It can snowball too,” Jacoby said, suggesting patience and a bit of amateur psychology can be assets. “It can get spiralling out of control a little bit if you’re not getting hits and you’re starting to chase hits. Getting back to the basics of, ‘Hey I’ve got to get a good pitch to hit and get my swing off.’ It’s keeping it simple.”