At last, Ngoepe finds his offense
to the right side of the field,” Ngoepe said. “One-hopper to the second baseman kind of mentality.”
This approach is in no way revolutionary or specific to Ngoepe. Hitting coaches at every level talk about letting the ball travel and trying to hit it to the opposite field. The prevalence of defensive shifts toward the pull side notwithstanding, this approach lets a batter square up a fastball and hit it the other way while still being able to stay on an offspeed pitch and keep it fair.
“It’s a plan,” Ngoepe said. “It’s better than going up there and not knowing what to do.”
Through 20 games this spring, Ngoepe went 18 for 42 (.429) with 1 double, 1 triple, 6 walks and 13 strikeouts.
“He’s done things that other people that have seen him play longer have not seen him do before with consistency,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “The mindset at the plate, the routine at the plate, the job done at the plate, has lasted two weeks against pretty competitive pitching.”
Ngoepe remains in major league camp with less than a week remaining until opening day, but he likely will start the season with Indianapolis. He might have made his major league debut when rosters expanded in September but was suspended in late August for the rest of the minor league season because of his role in a bar fight in Toledo.
“I do think about how close I am,” Ngoepe said. “Sometimes, it’s nerve-wracking, sometimes, it’s exciting.”
Ngoepe’s defense has never held him back. He is the finest infielder, possibly the finest defender, in the Pirates minor league system. If the plan sticks and his offensive improvement continues, he will be a viable option in the event of an injury to a middle infielder.
“There is still room for optimism there, room for growth,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “It’s a matter, of can we keep this approach locked in? If we can, he could be a very good player.”
Playing time will be hard to come by. Jordy Mercer is the shortstop. Prospect Kevin Newman isn’t far behind, with Cole Tucker behind him. But Hurdle sees the potential for more.
“I believe this is a man, as I told him, I said you can either be a guy that’s going to get called up when people get hurt, or you can go down, you can put a game plan together on offense and you can come up and play another 10 years in the big leagues,” Hurdle said. “That’s really in your control.”