MILWAUKEE -- Colin Moran's homered in both games of the Pirates' series here at Miller Park, three times in his past four games, five times in his past nine games.
That's a pace, I'd say, that commands some respect.
"He's working hard, and he's trying to hunt pitches that he likes to hit. And not miss it," Clint Hurdle was saying after the 5-3 loss to the Brewers, one in which Moran's two-run shot in the second inning would account for two-thirds of his team's offense. "That, for me, would probably be where I'd go with the conversation. He's just trying to get his swing off early with pitches that he likes."
Sound familiar?
Yeah, it's what new hitting coaches Rick Eckstein and Jacob Cruz have been preaching up and down the lineup. It's why Josh Bell and Bryan Reynolds, among others, have praised them. They enter an at-bat with a specific plan for a specific pitch area from a pitcher -- the hot zone, as they're calling it -- focus like a laser on that area, and wallop away when the ball comes.
Like the one Saturday, off a 2-1 Zach Davies sinker that didn't sink below knee level:
Count Moran among the converted. Because the power's always been part of his package, dating to his time in the Astros' minor-league system -- lots of momentum through the swing path, swooping launch angle -- but the same can't be spoken for the productivity and consistency. Until the past 20 games, in which, in addition to the home runs, he's batted .343 -- 24 for 70 -- with 18 RBIs.
The key, to hear him tell it, also sounds a lot like Bell and Reynolds.
"It's about keeping the same approach, not changing all the time," Moran would say after this game. "I've kind of scrapped thinking about mechanics, actually. It's more about approach. Honestly, I'm sure mechanics work for some guys because everyone gets out of whack every once in a while. But that can be too much for me. I'm trying to stick with this, to trust it."
That remark got me to wondering: Does Moran consider his swing to be long?
Without posing as some hitting coach, I see a lot of length in the swing, reminiscent of Adam LaRoche. And Hurdle himself mentioned the need to "get his swing off early." So I thought it'd be fair to ask Moran what he thought of that, seeing that the hit-the-area approach would appear to be of great assistance to someone who gets that bat rolling earlier than, say, the super-compact Adam Frazier.
Appreciated the response:
Moran isn't exactly the excitable sort, as everyone who follows the team is aware and the video above illustrates. But be sure he welcomed the word from Hurdle earlier in the day that, even with Jung Ho Kang rejoining the team after raking with Class AAA Indianapolis, the starting third base job is his.
Fine time to plant another ball over another fence.
• Another day, another mini-milestone for Reynolds: His third-inning single, a smart opposite-field slice off a changeup on the outer half -- all this kid does is drive pitches the way they come to him -- extended his hitting streak to 16 games and, more impressive, his on-base streak to 23 games. The latter is the longest by any franchise rookie since Lee Walls' 25 way back in 1956.
I playfully reminded Hurdle that the only one capable of busting up Reynolds' streaks is the manager of this particular club, having essentially cut off Reynolds' career-opening hitting streak at 11 games by giving one at-bat as a pinch-hitter in the 12th game.
"I won't be ending this one," he came right back.
• There's no way Nick Kingham's really gone. You should know that.
Here's how being designated for assignment works. It creates a 10-day window in which a team can place the player on waivers, try to trade the player, release the player or, if no one claims him off the wire in the first seven days of the window, outright that player to the minors.
Now, you have seen Kingham pitch, right?
Who's claiming that and giving up a spot on their roster?
That said, the move early Saturday was welcome, even if woefully overdue, even if Hurdle, Neal Huntington and athletic trainer Bryan Housand met with Kingham in the manager's office shortly before the designation and, gee, why have anyone medical in there unless there was discussion toward injury status of some sort?
• An old baseball scout once gave me sound advise, albeit in a condescending tone: You didn't see what you thought you saw.
He was referring to things in the game you're sure are one thing but wind up being completely another, and there was a golden example of that in the Milwaukee second inning when Orlando Arcia stole third base right in front of a seemingly sleepy Moran:
Man, that looks awful.
You thought that, too, right? Like it might have been some space-out similar to Moran missing that pop-up the previous night?
Well, it helps to go right to the source before pouncing: Turns out that, with two outs and two strikes on Lorenzo Cain at the plate, Moran backed off the bag and "shifted a little to the left" to better accommodate Cain's spray chart.
"It's just a priority," Moran explained. "What's more important in that situation with two outs and a good hitter up?"
Lesson learned on this end.
My Grind on the game, built on Jordan Lyles' lousy day, is right here.
