After a pep talk from Haines, Gamel shows how he is a 'versatile' hitter

DETROIT -- With how his season had gone to this point, Ben Gamel probably needed a pep talk.

While he did have some good swings in the first month of the 2022 campaign, his offensive numbers were down from a year ago. He also knew he had opportunities to do more.

“I had missed some good pitches to hit,” Gamel said after the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Tigers. “I don’t miss fastballs, and I had been.”

Gamel didn't miss them Wednesday at Comerica Park, picking up five hits as part of a doubleheader with the Tigers. The Pirates lost the first game, 3-2, before taking game two by a score of 7-2. 

In the process, Gamel's batting average jumped up 45 points (.230 to .275), and his OPS rose 118 points (from .647 to .765). 

“He had a great day,” Derek Shelton said. “Really kind of rose to the occasion, did a bunch of things well, you know, big day for him, and he's one of the reasons we won.”

Before the game, Gamel got that pep talk from Andy Haines, where the two talked about what he should minimize and how he can put himself in the best position to hit.

“I wouldn’t say it was anything out of the norm, by any means," Haines told me."I think a big part of this job is encouragement. As we’re getting further into the season and what the game does offensively to guys, just encourage them and remind Gam to be great with what he’s good at.

"Not to be so cliche, but if you watch him one or two days, you might not notice him. Watch him for a week straight, you’re really going to appreciate how good of a baseball player this guy is.”

When asked what Gamel does do well, Haines brought up his versatility as a hitter, which includes some "sneaky" power. That included a two-run triple in game one which left the bat at 107.4 mph:

"He can pull the ball in the air," Haines said. "He can take chances. It’s in there and he’s shown it. He doesn’t have to just push the ball the other way and be careful, and he’s not a guy that’s just going to sit to do damage and be all-or-nothing either."

Case in point: Gamel's last hit of the day, a line drive to the opposite field off a fastball on the outer-half of the plate.

You know, the type of pitch that Gamel himself admitted he was missing. In fact, four of Gamel's five hits were against the fastball, and on 10 swings against it, he made contact each time.

"I don’t want him to fall in these traps of, ‘this is who I am. This is what I have to do,' " Haines said. "We want all of our players, to operate at 100% of what they are, and with Gam, with those balls he pulled in the air today, remind him that he can do that.”

A good talk helped remind Gamel of that and made his performance Wednesday possible.

It does beg the question, what is it about a Haines pep talk that is so effective?

"He's funny, he's intense," Shelton said. "I mean, you gotta be a little crazy to be hitting coach. I know that firsthand. I've lived that life. But I think the one thing that that really stands out about Andy is he lives and dies with his hitters. I mean, he treats them like they're his kids, and that's the best thing a head coach can do. You think all the time about what they're doing, how they're doing it, and Andy has that gene."

GETTY

Daniel Vogelbach hits a sacrifice fly in game two.

• Daniel Vogelbach is putting Shelton in quite the predicament. Does he bat him leadoff like he did at the beginning of the year, taking advantage of his .350 on-base percentage, or does he bat him clean up and let that .514 slugging clip drive in runs?

Wanting to mix up the lineup a bit to score runs, Shelton opted for the latter, and Vogelbach drove in three in game two, including the final two on a no-doubt home run in the ninth.

With that homer, Vogelbach raised his OPS to .864, the second-best among all designated hitters who qualify for the batting title, trailing only Yordan Alvarez of the Astros.

"He continues to have really consistent at-bats," Shelton said.

Vogelbach was seen yelling at the Pirates' dugout after making contact in the ninth, celebrating with them for putting the "icing on the cake" for the day.

“I’m trying to be positive and be energetic everyday,” Vogelbach said. “Turn the page, good or bad, on what happened previously. Just taking it day by day and being ready for the task at hand.”

• After five innings of two-run ball, Shelton turned to Zach Thompson in the sixth. Thompson has been used exclusively as a starter so far this season, and he is still scheduled to start Sunday against the Reds. This was an opportunity to get an inning out of him for the doubleheader rather than throw the side.

After a scoreless seventh from Chris Stratton, Shelton turned to David Bednar for the last two, which he did in spotless fashion. While Bednar has been arguably the Pirates' most reliable bullpen arm this year, trusting him for two innings without the other logical closer options is a show of faith from the manager.

“They have confidence [in me]," Bednar told me. "They know what they’re going to get. That’s what I pride myself on. Go out there and compete every day and give them something they can rely on.”

• By the way, Bednar had to pitch AFTER the emotions of watching that triple-overtime Penguins win over the Rangers Tuesday. 

"Definitely a little emotional," he joked. "No doubt about it. They pulled that one off."

• Dillon Peters and Bryse Wilson continue to be an effective one-two punch in that order, as the duo did not allow an earned run over seven innings in game one. Peters went 3 1/3 innings while allowing just a walk and a ground ball single, while Wilson allowed two hits and a walk while striking out six over 3 2/3.

"I think it kind of throws their hitters off a bit, seeing a lefty before I come in," Wilson said on what makes them a successful piggyback. "I think we're really just both pitching really well and we're executing a lot of pitches, regardless of how it's set up. If you execute pitches, it will end up pretty good for you."

I had to stress earned runs, though, also a pair of errors by Cole Tucker and Ke'Bryan Hayes in the fifth inning cost the team three runs. Hayes' error came with two outs and allowed two runs to score, whiffing on a bouncer:

“I initially took three steps in and kind of stopped and was in between, and it took off after a hop," Hayes told me about the play. "If I had to do it all over again, I would go over and get it before it hopped and not get that super short hop. But I mean, you live and you learn.”

That was one of five errors by the Pirates on the day, who have made multiple defensive miscues in three straight games.

"It's something we've got to focus on," Shelton said. "We've got to tighten up because in the first game, we actually we cost ourselves runs because of it."

• Hayes was hit in the left hand with a pitch in the seventh inning of game two, but said he was fine afterwards because it didn't catch his whole hand.

• Factoid of the game: Peters has not allowed a run in 16 2/3 innings over eight appearances.

The last pitcher to do that to start a season was Rod Beck in 1992 (17 innings).

• A quick injury report: Duane Underwood Jr. (hamstring) will have his rehab transferred to Class AAA Indianapolis in the coming days. Blake Cederlind (Tommy John) and Nick Mears (elbow surgery) continue to ramp up, and Mears is anticipated to throw a live batting practice in the coming weeks. Greg Allen (hamstring) has had his rehab transferred back to Florida. Kevin Newman (groin) has resumed all baseball activities with the exception of running. Quinn Priester (oblique) is throwing flatgrounds out to 120 feet and is throwing off a slope again. Travis Swaggerty sustained a mild concussion after colliding with shortstop Oneil Cruz Tuesday. He has been placed on the 7-day injured list.

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THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 10-day injured list: SS Kevin Newman (groin), RHP Duane Underwood (hamstring)

• 60-day injured list: OF Greg Allen (hamstring), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's Game 2 card:

1. Ben Gamel, RF
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
5. Michael Chavis, 1B
6. Josh VanMeter, 2B
7. Diego Castillo, SS
8. Roberto Perez, C
9. Jake Marisnick, LF

And for A.J. Hinch's crew:

1. Robbie Grossman, LF
2. Javier Baez, SS
3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
4. Austin Meadows, RF
5. Jonathan Schoop, 2B
6. Spencer Torkelson, 1B
7. Jeimer Candelario, 3B
8. Eric Haase, C
9. Derek Hill, CF

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates will travel Thursday to Cincinnati to face the Reds on Friday at 6:40 p.m. The visitors will be sending RHP JT Brubaker (0-2, 6.20) on the hill against RHP Connor Overton (0-0, 1.69).

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