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Hillman hopes to manufacture runs with improved fundamentals
By BOB DUTTON | The Kansas City StarSURPRISE, 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.
It didn’t matter, really, that the play backfired when first baseman Ryan Shealy made a terrific diving catch before the ball hit the ground and turned it into a double play. That was viewed, instead, as a defensive bonus.
Peña’s bunt represented definite progress.
“I want to put Tony in those situations,” Hillman said. “In two (simulated) games, he’s already improved.”
DeJesus, too, has become an advocate of the increased emphasis on fundamentals.
“That’s the way baseball is supposed to be played,” he said. “It’s not little ball. It’s getting the guy in. It’s moving the runners over when you have to. That’s the way the game has been played for a long time.
“We were bad at it last year. It showed last year that it’s something we needed to work on. He comes in here, and he’s the right type of guy. He stresses those little things.”
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Hillman contends he already sees progress after just two intense simulations. Five more drills are scheduled between now and March 11.
“We’re going to keep hammering it,” he pledged. “The great part for me as a manager, and the rest of the staff, is these guys are not complaining about this. They realize their deficiencies — they’re seeing them and it’s playing out.”
The Royals lost 93 games last year. They finished last in the AL Central for a fourth straight season. They had lots of deficiencies, and still do.
It makes for an attentive group.
“We’re not a team that can sit back and wait for the three-run home run,” outfielder Mark Teahen said. “Those will come, but we’ve got to find other ways to score runs — especially on days when we’re playing in the division and going up against some of the best pitchers in the game.
“We understand what type of team we are. And being such a young team, I think guys are more open to learning different ways to score runs, whether it be bunting or hitting-and-running.”
A series of sloppy bunting techniques last Friday prompted this lecture.
“When am I going to ask you to bunt?” Hillman questioned. “If you’re not bunting for a base hit, when am I going to ask you to bunt? Generally, it will be the seventh, eighth or ninth inning.
“That’s when you have the setup man or the closer in the game. The point is, the stuff you’re facing is nasty. It’s going to be high-velocity with sink, slide, split or a serious hammer.
“Those guys aren’t easy to bunt off of. You’d better be fundamentally sound and plan on getting the ball down in the right location. Simplify your technique.”
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The message is taking hold.
“What we’re doing,” DeJesus said, “it makes you more aware. You know the situation you’re in. Runner on second base and nobody out? Get that bunt down. You do that, and you build a team aura. Stuff like that makes everyone responsible for that run.”
Adds Grudzielanek: “It keeps you in tune with the game. You’ve got to understand it’s all about what your role on the team is. I think we’ll understand that better than ever this year.”
That shared responsibility speaks to the heart of Treyball.
“I’m big on the wa, which is chemistry,” Hillman said. “And I’m big on what kind of messages are you sending to your team with the decisions that you make.
“I’ll tell you something else I want us to represent. I want us to be a bunch of guys who get after it. You’ve got to play the game. Let’s get that back. You can’t do it all overnight. But we’re going to grind it out and get it back.”