Jeff Pentland Speaks

by Jeff Sullivan on Jan 20, 2006 10:48 PM PST in Seattle Mariners Regular News

And at some length, too. I don't recall Don Baylor ever doing this. Anyway, one of the winter's most forgotten additions sat down with Doug Miller for a brief chat, answering a few questions about personal philosophy, Jeremy Reed, and Ichiro's total awesomeness. The most interesting part is probably what he has to say about Adrian Beltre, though. When asked about Beltre's down season, Pentland replied:

It's mostly confidence. From a technical standpoint, you look at last year's tape and compare it to year he had with Dodgers, and there's not a lot of outstanding problems. He's close technically, with maybe a little tinkering or refining needed here and there. To me, it was impressive to watch him on tape, so obviously, he still has that ability. We have to make sure he feels like he's one of the best hitters in the game every day he comes to the park, because he is one of the best. I've coached a few big stars, and their standards are much higher than the average hitters in the game. We've got to do a better job of getting runners on base for him. He plays an important role, and he can't do it if he's getting up there with nobody on base. I know he can hit and that he's confident he can hit, because he's done it.

So, the main points:

Beltre has little confidence.
His swing mechanics didn't really change between 2004 and 2005.
He's one of the best hitters in baseball.
He'd perform better if he came to the plate with men on base more often.
He's confident that he can hit.

Okay, so right off the bat we have #1 and #5 cancelling each other out, which is a little weird. #2 we know to be true, because enough people have compared tape and arrived at the same conclusion that we can probably treat it as fact. #3 is kind of a reach, since even though Beltre was friggin' amazing two years ago, he's still been the picture of mediocrity four times in the last five seasons. #4 is just wrong. in 2004, 54.5% of Beltre's at bats came with nobody on; in 2005, 55.4%. Hardly a difference. There's also the fact that Beltre's been a slightly worse hitter with men on base for his career, but whatever, it's not like we can expect Pentland to be familiar with these numbers off the top of his head. Since he hasn't really had a chance to work with Beltre at all since being hired, he's probably just rattling off a bunch of things that might be a problem in the hopes that one of them sticks. With luck, he'll get a better idea of what to work on once ST rolls around.

You have to wonder, though, just how much good a hitting coach can do when he doesn't see anything physically wrong with somebody's swing. Let's say Pentland really belives that Beltre's biggest problem is confidence. Okay, then what? The only way for a hitter to re-gain his confidence is to go out there and beat the snot out of the ball, but if he couldn't do it a year ago, there's no reason to believe that he'll suddenly get it together this time around, and all of a sudden it's the middle of July and you're wondering why Beltre still hasn't done crap since signing as a free agent. I guess a few encouraging words every now and then might help ("Hey, Adrian, lookin' good." "You really smashed that pitch in the first inning."), but beyond that, I fail to see what kind of significant impact Pentland could really have. This feels like one of those situations where it's just up to the player to get himself going. At least in Beltre's case, he's done it once before.

And just for the hell of it, what did Don Baylor have to say about Beltre a year ago? Via Jim Street:

(The NL) is a 'challenge' league, especially in hitters' counts, whereas there are more breaking pitches over here...He is feeling his way through the American League right now and it shouldn't take him that long. He might have to start looking for offspeed pitches more often.

Percentage of breaking pitches faced, 2004: 28.0%
Percentage of breaking pitches faced, 2005: 29.5%

That's a difference of about one breaking ball every four games. By and large, Beltre faced pretty much the same pitch distribution with the Mariners as he did with the Dodgers, so that wasn't really the issue here. Nice try, Don, but no dice.

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Jeff, yer bummin me out

I was hoping for a really good connection between Beltre and Pentland, which can still happen. But if Pentland is admitting that he sees nothing wrong, and its all confidence, should we bring in, I dunno...
Stewart Smalley, or maybe...
that Simmons guy with the tank top and pretty shorts...
too bad that motivational speaker in the van down by the river is no longer with us.

by KC @ Lookout Landing on Jan 20, 2006 11:17 PM PST reply actions

Memo to Jeff Pentland

He was swinging underneath the ball too much, because....
... he swung with an uppercut.
This contradicts basic hitting technique, which emphasizes swinging straight but at a slightly downward angle, and swinging on top of the ball.
So, in other words, yes, something IS wrong with his swing and his approach. It's correctible, but it's still wrong.

Hopefully, he's downplaying Beltre's issues just to help everyone feel better.

by Gomez on Jan 20, 2006 11:24 PM PST reply actions

Confidence and Breaking Pitches

I actually agree with Pentland. There might be minute technical issues, but some players, like any other human, are sensitive to psychological changes and state of mind. With batting being so sensitive to timing, even the slightest hesitation can affect the outcome.

As for breaking pitches, is there any data on their distribution with regards to counts and runners? Disproving that there's a difference in the number of breaking pitches doesn't disprove the concept of 'challenge' Senior Circuit v. 'weenie' Junior Circuit. It carries no information that proves that the NL doesn't throw sliders on a 1-2 count, bases on the corners, or the AL doesn't throw FBs on a 3-1 count, bases empty.

by IcebreakerX on Jan 20, 2006 11:35 PM PST reply actions

Weh.

Duh, I meant runners on the corners.

I certainly hope there are bases on the corners, or it'll be a lot like kickball.

by IcebreakerX on Jan 20, 2006 11:48 PM PST up reply actions

Oh, FFS...

"We've got power with Richie Sexson and Beltre, and certainly, Raul Ibanez helps in that scenario also. We've got to use both. It's important that we run the bases better. It's one thing to get on first base, but it makes a big difference if guys get on second base. The big thing is increasing run production. No one loves the three-run homer more than I do, but it's hard to do. We've got to learn how to score runs other than the homer. Hopefully, it works out."

Mariner AL Rankings in various offensive categories:

Stolen Bases: 4th
Caught Stealing: 4th
OBP: 14
SLG: 13
Home Runs: 13
Runs Scored: 13

Hmm, d'ya think the M's had problems with speed and situational hitting, or three-run homers last year, Jeff?

Oh, that's right, he comes to us from a KC team that managed to totally regress on offense while he was there- but he's nifty because he worked with Sammy Sosa, who blossomed while he was there.

Gaaaah.

by eponymous coward on Jan 20, 2006 11:41 PM PST reply actions

What I mean of course, was...

Sammy blossomed while Pentland was the Cubs hitting coach.

Personally...I'm fairly skeptical this means a whole hell of a lot. This isn't Charlie Lau we're talking about here, and players like Sosa who play in the majors at a young age have a good shot at being HOF'ers regardless. If he gets points for Sosa, does he lose them because Angel Berroa has regressed since 2003?

by eponymous coward on Jan 20, 2006 11:46 PM PST up reply actions

If it didn't matter for Sammy...

Then what bearing would he have on the M's lineup getting better OR worse?

by IcebreakerX on Jan 20, 2006 11:48 PM PST up reply actions

Huh?

What exactly is your point?

That Jeff Pentland is a bad hitting coach?

Or that hitting coaches don't matter?

by Jerry on Jan 21, 2006 8:09 AM PST up reply actions

?fghjk

That they really don't matter.

by IcebreakerX on Jan 21, 2006 9:23 AM PST up reply actions

The second point...

...or, expanded, that outside a few select cases, hitting coaches/pitching coaches/managers do not matter.

Hargrove, for instance, has finished in 4th for the last 5 years he's managed, and not even CLOSE to .500. That's not exactly an inspirational record...

by eponymous coward on Jan 23, 2006 4:53 PM PST up reply actions

Managers DO matter

That's because they have a very, very large impact on roster composition. Bench and bullpen are pretty much made to the manager's tune, as well as the starting lineup.

IMO, Lou was far superior at selecting talent and sticking to it, whether it was minor leaguers or veterans. All I've seen lately is Hargrove giving bonus points to wussie veterans.

by IcebreakerX on Jan 24, 2006 6:01 PM PST up reply actions

Fluff

This is just a fluff piece.

I think that it is likely that Pentland just wants to say the right thing. That means saying what the fans want to hear (Beltre is not a bust! He just needs to realize how awesome he is!) and what the player might need to hear.

It would look pretty bad if he came out and said: "Beltre was just a mess last season. He was flailing at breaking balls and missing fastballs. It was difficult to watch."

Here is what Pentland WANTED to say:

MLB.com: How do you feel about this new team and this new challenge?

Pentland: I'm excited. The offense sucked so bad last year, they can't help but get better. This job will give me nice numbers that I can use to prove how much of an impact I have on young teams.

MLB.com: Looking at the statistics from last year, where do you see the greatest need for team improvement?

Pentland: The problem was the offense. It sucked.
I think it had something to do with the players not hitting the ball hard or often, and not getting on base.

MLB.com: Adrian Beltre had a monster year with the Dodgers in 2004, then didn't do nearly as well last year. Do you have any specific explanations that you've noticed from film, and what will you be working on with him specifically in Spring Training?

Pentland: See above.

MLB.com: What about Jeremy Reed? What do you think he needs to do to realize the potential he has and to get back to the impressive stroke he showed in September 2004, when he first came up?

Pentland: I think that Jeremy is going to be much better next year. Playing half his games in Fenway Park might help.

MLB.com: Have you ever worked with a hitting talent as unique as Ichiro Suzuki?

Pentland: Yeah, Ichiro is really interesting. It isn't often that you get to work with someone who violates everything that I have learned in all my years as a hitting coach. He has made me question everthing that I hold dear.

MLB.com: If Reed does well and looks like a candidate for the leadoff spot, would you be of a mind to suggest moving Ichiro to the No. 3 hole for more of a run-production role?

Pentland: No. To do that, I would have to make a formal request to Howard Lincoln, who would then have to talk to Mr. Yamauchi about it. Mr. Yamauchi would then have to arrange a formal audience with Mr. Ichiro to ask if he would consider the move, which would take a long time. It is not worth the effort.

MLB.com: How important is it to the organization to have a couple of veteran bats, like Carl Everett and Matt Lawton, to add to the mix?

Pentland: The Mariner's organization has made a commitment to releasing at least 3 veterans every year towards the middle of the season. It is my job to get Chris Snelling, Shin-Soo Choo, and Mike Morse ready so that the organization can DFA these two by mid-season. It is important to have continuity year to year on the big-league roster, and the yearly DFA spree has kinda become a team ritual. Thus, it is nice to have at least one or two over-the-hill vets around.

by Jerry on Jan 21, 2006 8:35 AM PST reply actions

Jerry, as the kids say

That mock interview was the lulz.

by Gomez on Jan 21, 2006 5:41 PM PST up reply actions

The part about DFA's..

was sheer genius. Nice job.

by basebliman on Jan 21, 2006 6:30 PM PST up reply actions

Unknown territory

Have there been other guys who did what Beltre did last year: 1) a young player 2) coming off a hitting year of historic proportions and 3) his first really big year 4) moves to a new team 5) in a new league? Nobody came to mind. The point is simply that having finally found his hitting comfort zone, Beltre was uprooted and sent to a new team, a new league, a new area. Maybe some guys could have overcome this, but B. didn't. So the problem may well be psychological (and maybe even cultural) rather than mechanical: it's hard to believe that his hitting stroke disintegrated COMPLETELY from one year to the next. So if Pentland can help B. "feel" better, that might be the key to a successful season for him. I will say this: the few times B. really made contact last year, he put a charge in it that was positively Pujolsian: I hadn't seen balls exit Safeco any faster...

rightly, in every age it is assumed we are witnessing the disappearance of the last traces of paradise... Cioran

by toonprivate on Jan 21, 2006 8:50 AM PST reply actions