STUDENT OF THE GAME
Hottovy’s analytics knowledge will be big benefit to Cubs
MESA, Ariz. — As a 22-year-old hotshot in the Royals organization seven years ago, Mike Montgomery admits he wasn’t the easiest guy to mentor.
But a 30-year-old sidearm specialist clinging to his plodding career treated Montgomery well and left a favorable impression.
That former teammate is now his pitching coach with the Cubs: Tommy Hottovy.
“Sometimes you can get ragged on a lot, especially when you’ve been pitching in the minors,” Montgomery recalled. “But he was always nice to me, and he was smart. That’s the one thing that jumped out.”
The wisdom Hottovy gained persevering through five organizations in 11 professional seasons bolsters his knowledge of analytics.
“It doesn’t surprise me that someone as bright as Tommy is now a pitching coach,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “It’s a technology-based game right now. We had Ian Kennedy throwing on the side the other day, and we had four cameras and one box in front of the plate that was rating his spin speed.
“You need more people to understand how to take that information and use it productively. Tommy is definitely that.”
But in the case of Hottovy, 37, there’s more than just understanding spin rates and data points.
“His sidearm delivery was different than the norm, but you still have to know how to break down everyone’s mechanics — sidearm, three-quarters, over the top, lefty, righty, everybody,” Yost said of Hottovy, who had a 4.05 ERA in 17 appearances with the Red Sox and Royals, the extent of his major-league career.
“Tommy has studied the game to the point where he’s going to be a really, really good pitching coach.”
After his stints with the Red Sox and Royals, Hot- tovy’s baseball education continued the next two seasons in the Rangers and Blue Jays organizations. The Cubs signed him to a minor-league deal in 2013, but in April 2014 he suffered a career-ending shoulder injury in spring training.
“I was with the Royals when they got to lock down those seventh-, eighth-, ninth-inning roles,” Hottovy said. “And then I was with Toronto where they tried to piece it together with a bunch of Rule 5 and 40-man waiver claims.
“But in the end, just being able to pick the brain of a bunch of different guys and getting an opportunity to be in some different organizations gave me a broader scope of what goes on in the major leagues, instead of being in one organization for a long time.”
Soon after his playing career ended, Hottovy, a finance major at Wichita State, yearned to stay involved in baseball. So he took an online course Bos- ton University offered titled “Sabermetrics 101: Introduction to Baseball Analytics.”
“It’s a great course,” Hottovy said. “It takes you behind the scenes and helps bridge a gap.”
The Cubs soon hired him in their advance scouting department as their run prevention coordinator.
After Jim Hickey resigned after last season, Hottovy moved up to become pitching coach.
“How about that?” Mont- gomery said. “It’s really cool. But to me, nothing has changed.
“I’m still dealing with him in the same way I have the last couple years. He’s the pitching coach, so the title is different. He’s going to be in the dugout, but it’s all good stuff.”
While Hottovy embraces the analytical side, there’s also the human element of coaching. Montgomery is expected to be in the hybrid starter/reliever role for the third consecutive season.
“I know where (Montgomery) has been and what he’s gone through, so it adds context to the conversation and trust when I take something to him,” Hottovy said. “He doesn’t have to secondguess it. We can have a healthy argument about it, but we know we’re on the same page and moving on.”
Hottovy’s talents were too good for the Cubs to ignore when they looked for a new pitching coach.
“We always kind of viewed him as a rising star,” general manager Jed Hoyer said.
“We thought he definitely was going to be an excellent pitching coach. As we got into the winter and started talking about it, no doubt that timetable was being sped up. Teams were going to be younger but different. And people were asking permission (to talk to Hottovy).
“We were thinking, ‘We know this guy is a star right here,’ and I think sometimes guys are thinking, ‘You want to finish that development.’ This guy is awesome. This is our guy. He’s been awesome so far in camp.”