Matt Hague was hired by the Pirates as the team’s new major-league hitting coach in late November and with four Grapefruit League games remaining in spring training his impact has been noticeable within the clubhouse at LECOM Park.
However, it’s not just Hague that has impacted the Pirates hitters so far this spring as players have raved just as much about Daniel Vogelbach, who was hired as a special assistant to the hitting department before the start of spring training.
“They are both big personality guys, so they are easy to talk to,” Jared Triolo told me. “Matt’s brought a lot of good stuff to me personally, and then Vogey, he’s kind of the biggest hype man in the dugout. You can hear him every pitch, so it’s good having both of them.”
Leading up to this point in the spring, I had surveyed the clubhouse about the impact that Hague has had on the team so far and heard raving reviews. Players spoke about how he has helped with mechanics and developed specific game plans while also stressing situational hitting.
The more players I talked to though the more I realized how much respect Vogelbach has earned within the clubhouse as well. He’s fresh off his nine-year playing career after playing for the Blue Jays last season, where Hague was an assistant hitting coach. Now, the two are paired together and the players are reaping the rewards.
There are a plethora of examples of their impact throughout the 25 games the Pirates have played since Feb. 22, but one that paints an interesting story is Jack Suwinski’s 12-pitch at-bat during the team’s 15-5 win over the Orioles on March 15. It wasn’t his eventual two-RBI single that shows the impact, but rather how he followed up a 1-2 foul ball.
“In the past, after that, you'd see him get defensive,” Derek Shelton said “The next pitch was a fastball and he took a full hack at it. I turned to Hague and said 'Regardless of the outcome of this at-bat, we're making strides, because of that next swing.' "
That's been Suwinski's consistent approach since February. While he's still selective, he's aggressive with his swings no matter what. The results have shown in his stat line as he's hitting .371 with a 1.025 OPS, nine RBIs and five doubles.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa might be the player who’s most excited about Hague and Vogelbach joining the organization and for good reason. He put together one of the best halves of his career last year in Toronto before being traded to the Pirates. In 83 games with the Blue Jays, he hit .292/.338/.420 with a .758 OPS to go with seven home runs and 33 RBIs.
Those types of numbers would’ve been career highs for Kiner-Falefa and Hague and Vogelbach were a big part of his success. He said both of them stress the “new school” approach of utilizing analytics to develop game plans and improve pitch selection.
“I feel like the guys here are being taught analytics how it’s being taught in all the other organizations I’ve been to,” Kiner-Falefa said. “When I first got here, they had the analytics, they just weren’t able to apply it. I think the biggest thing for me is the game plan that they helped me with when I was in Toronto really helped me to excel and we’re trying to get that game plan around. Obviously, he is helping everyone with their mechanics but I think it’s more of the mental approach and the game planning that’s going to help us skyrocket.”
The same can be said for Vogelbach. Kiner-Falefa said that while Vogelbach didn’t play a lot last year – he only appeared in 31 games – he was always the first one at the ball park. After studying the numbers of the pitcher they were set to face that day, Vogelbach would relay his findings to his teammates.
“He would go and tell everybody the information and he was right and we would apply that to the game,” Kiner-Falefa said. “So I think having him here helps everybody because he’s fresh out of playing, but he’s also big on analytics. So he’s going to be able to help teach these younger guys and guys who have never been around that type of thing.”
Hague and Vogelbach have also worked with players to improve their mechanics. Nick Gonzales told me that he was struggling with his contact point earlier in the spring and was “kinda crashing a little too much.” He said after working with Hague, everything “clicked” for him. Statistics can only mean so much in the spring but Gonzales is hitting .289 with a .752 OPS, four doubles and nine RBIs.
Nick Yorke said Hague has been working with him on holding his back hip so that he can pull the ball more naturally. He described himself as someone who can hit the ball the other way pretty well, and often has this spring. However, he has wanted to improve his ability to pull the ball in the air to left field.
One of the biggest concerns coming into this season was the Pirates’ offense. After hitting for a .234 team average last season with only 160 home runs, which were the seventh and sixth lowest totals in Major League Baseball, respectively, they needed to improve or find a different approach. The Pirates have stressed situational hitting and Hague and Vogelbach have been at the forefront of that approach.
"I think just game planning is going to be huge for us this year," Triolo told me.
In certain situations, the Pirates have put that into action by moving hitters to third with less than two outs, shortening up with two strike approaches and being aggressive with their pitch selection. It's still spring training, but the impact that Hague and Vogelbach have made is already evident and the players have been happy with the results.
• Yorke has played multiple positions throughout his young career and with him getting accustomed to playing first base, he had seven different gloves in his locker stall at one point this spring. He had two first baseman gloves – one for game action and one that was getting broken in – one for second, third and shortstop, a colorful infielder glove for practice and an outfield glove. He joked around earlier this spring that he needed a separate bag just for his gloves.
• Players try to stay busy throughout the day at LECOM Park but there’s often downtime and they have plenty of activities around the clubhouse that create competitions. Most of the starting pitchers are in a corner in the back and surround a little mini-hoop that they often shoot on. There have also been several putting competitions toward a plastic hole that gets moved around.
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
4:39 am - 03.21.2025Bradenton, Fla.Friday Insider: Hague, Vogelbach bringing 'new school' mentality
Matt Hague was hired by the Pirates as the team’s new major-league hitting coach in late November and with four Grapefruit League games remaining in spring training his impact has been noticeable within the clubhouse at LECOM Park.
However, it’s not just Hague that has impacted the Pirates hitters so far this spring as players have raved just as much about Daniel Vogelbach, who was hired as a special assistant to the hitting department before the start of spring training.
“They are both big personality guys, so they are easy to talk to,” Jared Triolo told me. “Matt’s brought a lot of good stuff to me personally, and then Vogey, he’s kind of the biggest hype man in the dugout. You can hear him every pitch, so it’s good having both of them.”
Leading up to this point in the spring, I had surveyed the clubhouse about the impact that Hague has had on the team so far and heard raving reviews. Players spoke about how he has helped with mechanics and developed specific game plans while also stressing situational hitting.
The more players I talked to though the more I realized how much respect Vogelbach has earned within the clubhouse as well. He’s fresh off his nine-year playing career after playing for the Blue Jays last season, where Hague was an assistant hitting coach. Now, the two are paired together and the players are reaping the rewards.
There are a plethora of examples of their impact throughout the 25 games the Pirates have played since Feb. 22, but one that paints an interesting story is Jack Suwinski’s 12-pitch at-bat during the team’s 15-5 win over the Orioles on March 15. It wasn’t his eventual two-RBI single that shows the impact, but rather how he followed up a 1-2 foul ball.
“In the past, after that, you'd see him get defensive,” Derek Shelton said “The next pitch was a fastball and he took a full hack at it. I turned to Hague and said 'Regardless of the outcome of this at-bat, we're making strides, because of that next swing.' "
That's been Suwinski's consistent approach since February. While he's still selective, he's aggressive with his swings no matter what. The results have shown in his stat line as he's hitting .371 with a 1.025 OPS, nine RBIs and five doubles.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa might be the player who’s most excited about Hague and Vogelbach joining the organization and for good reason. He put together one of the best halves of his career last year in Toronto before being traded to the Pirates. In 83 games with the Blue Jays, he hit .292/.338/.420 with a .758 OPS to go with seven home runs and 33 RBIs.
Those types of numbers would’ve been career highs for Kiner-Falefa and Hague and Vogelbach were a big part of his success. He said both of them stress the “new school” approach of utilizing analytics to develop game plans and improve pitch selection.
“I feel like the guys here are being taught analytics how it’s being taught in all the other organizations I’ve been to,” Kiner-Falefa said. “When I first got here, they had the analytics, they just weren’t able to apply it. I think the biggest thing for me is the game plan that they helped me with when I was in Toronto really helped me to excel and we’re trying to get that game plan around. Obviously, he is helping everyone with their mechanics but I think it’s more of the mental approach and the game planning that’s going to help us skyrocket.”
The same can be said for Vogelbach. Kiner-Falefa said that while Vogelbach didn’t play a lot last year – he only appeared in 31 games – he was always the first one at the ball park. After studying the numbers of the pitcher they were set to face that day, Vogelbach would relay his findings to his teammates.
“He would go and tell everybody the information and he was right and we would apply that to the game,” Kiner-Falefa said. “So I think having him here helps everybody because he’s fresh out of playing, but he’s also big on analytics. So he’s going to be able to help teach these younger guys and guys who have never been around that type of thing.”
Hague and Vogelbach have also worked with players to improve their mechanics. Nick Gonzales told me that he was struggling with his contact point earlier in the spring and was “kinda crashing a little too much.” He said after working with Hague, everything “clicked” for him. Statistics can only mean so much in the spring but Gonzales is hitting .289 with a .752 OPS, four doubles and nine RBIs.
Nick Yorke said Hague has been working with him on holding his back hip so that he can pull the ball more naturally. He described himself as someone who can hit the ball the other way pretty well, and often has this spring. However, he has wanted to improve his ability to pull the ball in the air to left field.
One of the biggest concerns coming into this season was the Pirates’ offense. After hitting for a .234 team average last season with only 160 home runs, which were the seventh and sixth lowest totals in Major League Baseball, respectively, they needed to improve or find a different approach. The Pirates have stressed situational hitting and Hague and Vogelbach have been at the forefront of that approach.
"I think just game planning is going to be huge for us this year," Triolo told me.
In certain situations, the Pirates have put that into action by moving hitters to third with less than two outs, shortening up with two strike approaches and being aggressive with their pitch selection. It's still spring training, but the impact that Hague and Vogelbach have made is already evident and the players have been happy with the results.
• Yorke has played multiple positions throughout his young career and with him getting accustomed to playing first base, he had seven different gloves in his locker stall at one point this spring. He had two first baseman gloves – one for game action and one that was getting broken in – one for second, third and shortstop, a colorful infielder glove for practice and an outfield glove. He joked around earlier this spring that he needed a separate bag just for his gloves.
• Players try to stay busy throughout the day at LECOM Park but there’s often downtime and they have plenty of activities around the clubhouse that create competitions. Most of the starting pitchers are in a corner in the back and surround a little mini-hoop that they often shoot on. There have also been several putting competitions toward a plastic hole that gets moved around.
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