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SURPRISE, Ariz. | This is the answer, new manager Trey Hillman believes as he calls out simulated game situations while down on one knee behind a pitcher on a back field at the Surprise Recreation Complex.
“Man on first, no outs,” he barks as right-hander Brandon Duckworth peers in for a sign from catcher Miguel Olivo.
The batter, Angel Berroa, peers down for a sign from Mike Jirschele, the Class AAA Omaha manager serving as third-base coach in this drill. Bunt? Hit-and-run? Bunt-and-run? Straight steal? Something else?
The crux of it is this:
Can Berroa execute the play? Can the infield defense react and counter the strategy?
Two lineups rotate through the batter’s box. Three sets of defensive alignments. Six different pitchers relay to the mound. Simulated situations change with each batter.
This continues for more than an hour.
Treyball 101.
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Hillman knows the numbers. Of course he does. A year ago, the Royals had the fewest homers, the fewest total bases and the lowest slugging percentage among all American League teams. Only the White Sox scored fewer runs.
The offseason search for a middle-of-the-order power hitter yielded outfielder Jose Guillen. And that figures to help. Guillen averaged 26 homers and 91 RBIs in his last four healthy seasons.
It also doesn’t figure to be enough in the big-bang world that is the American League.
“I don’t want to get in the way and give a lot of signs,” Hillman said. “I really don’t. I’d rather just leave the boys alone and watch them play. But recent history tells me we don’t have that kind of club. We lack run production.”
Hillman faced the same problem last year with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan. Free agency had decimated his reigning champions and forced him to realign his approach.
His solution worked well enough for the Fighters to make it back to the Japan Series before losing to the Chunichi Dragons. It is that solution that he’s bringing to the Royals.
“OBP,” he said. “It’s a no-brainer. OBP, then drive them in. On-base percentage before average. Take your walks because you are aggressively disciplined in the strike zone. But take your walks.
“If they’re going to pitch around you, and try to get you to bite, be disciplined enough to take your walk.”
The Royals ranked 13th among 14 AL teams last year in walks and on-base percentage.
“Not every team in the league is fortunate enough to just bang,” veteran second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said. “It just doesn’t happen. Now, when you’re going good, everybody can bang.
“But there are going to be times when you’re going bad. We’ve got to understand that and realize that this is a way to keep winning games.”
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That walk will boost on-base percentage, certainly, but it won’t matter much if the Royals can’t execute the other elements of Hillman’s little-ball approach.
So when David DeJesus didn’t swing at an inside pitch on a hit-and-run play in Monday’s simulation, it prompted something of a father-son chat from Hillman. Asked about it afterward, Hillman observed, “You’ve got to swing if it’s a catchable ball.”
Similarly, Tony Peña’s poor technique last Friday in a bunt-only simulation prompted immediate corrective measures. On Monday, Peña pushed a squeeze bunt toward first with proper technique.
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