D-Backs crank up offense
Coming off a rough season at the plate, the Diamondbacks’ offense is looking for ways to improve. Some hitters are trying to make mechanical adjustments. Others are hoping to embrace a different mentality. But the most visible change this spring is the team’s approach to batting practice on the back fields.
A pitching machine whirs on the back fields of the Diamondbacks’ spring training complex, alternating between firing fastballs and breaking balls at hitters. On an adjacent field, hitters stand on a mat a few feet in front of home plate, where they take batting practice thrown by a coach.
Coming off a disappointing season at the plate, the Diamondbacks' offense is looking for ways to improve. One approach the club is taking is to change the speed at which it practices.
“What it’s allowing our guys to do is see things quicker, faster, more gametype situations,” Diamondbacks hitting coach Darnell Coles said. “That way, they can make their adjustments in batting practice and carry it over to the game.”
The Diamondbacks last season ranked in the bottom half of the league in most major offensive categories. They had the third-worst on-base and the second-fewest home runs. They tied for the fewest pitches seen per plate appearance. Most crippling were the long stretches in which the offense seemingly vanished, notably during a 2-18 stretch in the middle of the year that wrecked their season.
The Diamondbacks have some hitters looking to make mechanical adjust
ments. Others are trying to bring a different mentality with them to the plate. Manager Torey Lovullo said his team needs to be more aware of game plans opposing teams are crafting and to put less pressure on themselves individually by being more willing to “hand it off ” to the hitter on deck.
But the most visible change this spring has been the club's approach to batting practice on the back fields.
The Diamondbacks have tried bits and pieces of this sort of practice approach in the past. After stretches in which their offense has bottomed out — more specifically, when it has been beaten repeatedly by power fastballs — the club has tried implementing more work against high-velocity machines.
This time, however, Coles makes it sound like the Diamondbacks will remain committed to this approach throughout the season. Some players seem to be all for it, with two of them coming up with the same way to describe what this type of practice represents — a challenge.
“I guess, at the end of the day, I want to be good at the game and not necessarily good at practice,” first baseman Christian Walker said. “So if it’s about challenging myself, I love it.”
Said shortstop Nick Ahmed: “I want to practice and challenge myself during practice. I want practice to be as gamelike as possible.”
Coles said one of the goals of the spring is to make the sure the Diamondbacks are ready to hit the fastball. The club has not fared well against the pitch in recent seasons. Since the start of 2018, batted ball data shows the Diamondbacks ranking 25th in the majors in expected batting average and 23rd in expected slugging against fastballs.
The struggles are hard to explain. The club’s position players have turned over dramatically over the years. Moreover, the Diamondbacks flipped out their entire coaching apparatus on the hitting side after 2018, replacing their hitting coach, assistant hitting coach and hitting strategist after that season.
Their prolonged issues in hitting velocity is partly why Coles has had his hitters scoot several feet closer to the pitcher’s mound during batting practice. He thinks it helps make a BP fastball that is 70 mph look like it is closer to 90.
“My objective coming in was to make sure that we’re fastball-ready and make our adjustments off that,” Coles said. “We’ll be more than prepared once the season starts.”
Coles knows the Diamondbacks aren’t getting much attention in the National League. Two years ago, they had a collection of hitters who turned in career years. With Ketel Marte, Eduardo Escobar and others leading the way, they had a unit that rated in the middle of the pack — and in some cases better than that — in several offensive categories.
Many of the same players returned in 2020 and struggled — and many are back again this year. Coles’ expectations for a turnaround are high.
“I want everybody to understand: Everybody’s going to talk about the Dodgers,” Coles said. “Everybody’s going to talk about San Diego and some of the adjustments the Mets made and some of these other teams. But we’ve got a pretty darn good hitting team.
"I feel very confident and comfortable with our guys moving forward. We work our butt off. These guys understand what we’re doing. They understand the struggle that they had last year individually and cohesively as a unit. We made our adjustment and we’ll be ready to go.”
D-Backs' Merrill Kelly shows encouraging velocity in return
Right-hander Merrill Kelly admitted to stealing a couple of glances at the video board on Monday to see his pitch velocity. He was not disappointed by what he saw.
Making his first start of the spring after undergoing surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, Kelly sat in the low-90s and topped in the 93-94 mph range in his two-inning outing against the Milwaukee Brewers at Salt River Fields.
“Definitely something I was curious about,” Kelly said. “From talking to people who have had the procedure I had, some of the feedback from those guys was that it might take a little bit to get back to the velo you were before the surgery.”
Instead, it did not take Kelly long at all. In five starts last year, Kelly averaged 92.1 mph with his fastball. Manager Torey Lovullo called it “absolutely” encouraging.
“Obviously, we’re going to compare to what he was like prior to the procedure and when you see him respond the way he did today, it means he did a lot of work when nobody was around and put himself in this position,” Lovullo said. “It was very nice for all of us to see.”
Kelly said his velocity hadn’t been at the front of his mind recently because of the way the ball had been coming out of his hand during bullpens and because of the feedback he was getting from hitters during live batting practice sessions. Still, he sounded pleased by what he saw on the video board.
“Being the first time out, being the first game in camp, I’m definitely happy with where it’s at right now,” he said.
Kelly said he felt some “butterflies” prior to the game, comparing it to the way he felt before his first spring outing with the Diamondbacks two years ago.
“Getting up today, driving to the field," he said, "I kind of felt like a little kid again."
Short hops
—Right-hander Keury Mella, who posted a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings for the Diamondbacks last season, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Reno. Mella was designated for assignment on Friday, along with lefty Travis Bergen, to clear room for righthanders Tyler Clippard and Luis Frias.
—Outfielder Drew Weeks, whom the Diamondbacks signed to a minor league deal during the offseason, will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery this week, Lovullo said.
—Lovullo said the club likely will play eight innings on Tuesday against the San Diego Padres. Following lefty Caleb Smith to the mound will be lefties Alex Young, Miguel Aguilar and Sam Moll and right-handers Kevin Ginkel and Bradley Roney.