rockin500
03-05-2003, 01:15 PM
MESA, Ariz. -- Gary Matthews has quite a project ahead of him. The new Chicago Cubs hitting coach inherits a team that led the Major Leagues in strikeouts.
It's not the first time Matthews has dealt with more whiffs than imaginable.
"He went to Milwaukee and they led the league in strikeouts (in 2001) and he cut theirs down last year," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said of Matthews. "Hopefully Gary can cut ours down and help our offense. Between him and (coach) Gene Clines and myself, we'll get it done. You're not going to eliminate them completely."
Clines was a former hitting coach with the San Francisco Giants. Baker had those duties from 1989-92 before becoming the Giants manager. He has even co-written "You Can Teach Hitting" and produced video tapes and conducted clinics on the art of hitting.
But the Cubs present quite a challenge. Chicago batters collectively whiffed 1,269 times. Mark Bellhorn, Alex Gonzalez, Corey Patterson and Sammy Sosa each struck out more than 100 times. Combine that with a .246 team batting average and a .241 average with runners in scoring position and the Cubs' 67-95 record isn't too hard to figure out.
"More than likely most of the guys who have been striking out have been striking out most of their lives," Baker said. "We'll try to give them a little different approach, a little different attitude about it, and not dwell on it but work on it. It takes time. Hopefully by season's end we'll be better this year than last year."
Matthews wants the Cubs to think positive.
"What I've done is make sure I don't mention the word strikeout," said the former Cub outfielder, who starred for the 1984 team.
"I think the presence of a new staff will help and I've mentioned getting more walks as opposed to dwelling on the strikeouts," Matthews said. "There have been some guys I've talked to one on one and said, 'Geez, you've got to cut down on strikeouts.'" But Matthews doesn't want players to go the plate, fall behind 0-2 and give in. By changing their mental approach, he hopes to alter the results.
"What I'm talking about is the more experience they get, the less they're going to strike out," he said. "Sammy played for more years, more years, and he became a better hitter and now he gets it. You can only get that through experience." Don't think the Cubs will become more passive at the plate. Matthews wants them to be aggressive. Just be smart.
"I think that from the new environment to some of the new approaches, I believe a good hitter has to know the strike zone to be successful in the Major Leagues," he said. "I think once you get to this level it's more mental than physical. I'm concentrating more on the mental part of it. I've been doing it since I was playing."
Instead of swinging for the fences during batting practice, the Cubs hitters are told a count or a situation and expected to respond appropriately.
"I'll tell a hitter, 'The count's 2-2, man on third,' or 'Runner on second,' or 'Give me a 2-0 swing,' 'Give me a 3-1 swing,'" Matthews said. "During the course of the season, those situations come up constantly. By doing that and working on it daily, things work out for you." It often seemed as if the Cubs batters fell behind in the count quickly last season. The team batted a dismal .246 and stranded runners in scoring position.
"If a hitter is 0-2, it tells me that he's not aggressive," Matthews said. "Usually that means a pitcher is getting ahead on a first-pitch fastball. That's the pitch I want them to be able to concentrate on and move and put into play.
"I want them to be aggressive," he said, "but I want them to do it under control."
That's tricky and the idea of knowing the strike zone comes into play. There are signs of progress. Patterson has three walks in four games this spring. In the second half last season, he only drew two walks in 276 at-bats.
"We're just trying to have him confine his strike zone," Baker said of the young center fielder. "When you don't walk, you're fouling off pitches you should have put in fair territory or you're swinging at pitches that are balls."
Patterson, 23, who is coming off his first full season in the big leagues, is getting plenty of tutoring.
"It comes from at-bats, it comes from experience, it comes from repetitions," Baker said of Patterson. "He'll figure it out. He'll get it. There's that need to win right now that puts undo pressure on some of these kids."
Matthews is familiar with Gonzalez. The two were together in Toronto in 1998-99 when Matthews was the hitting coach there. The Blue Jays ranked fifth in the American League in batting average each of the his two seasons there.
"We have a good feeling of what we want to do," Gonzalez said. "I think he likes to coach using positive thinking and not dwell on too many negative things. I'm sure that's the way he'll do it this year, just try to stay positive and think positive things."
Familiarity will help. Matthews sees other signs of life in the Cubs offense, including a healthy Moises Alou. That should ease some of the burden that Sosa has carried.
But there is another, more subtle element working in the Cubs favor that Matthews sees this spring.
"There are times in a ballplayer's career where your peers will look at it as your team," Matthews said. "When I played in '84, that was my team. When I left, it became (Ryne Sandberg's) team. For a while it became (Mark Grace's) team and everybody knew that.
"I've always felt a true superstar isn't the guy with the most points or the most rebounds, he's the guy who makes the other players play better on his team. I think Sammy will get to this point more this year."
Imagine if all the Cubs were hitting like Sosa.
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/chc/news/chc_news.jsp?ymd=20030304&content_id=209722&vkey=spt2003news&fext=.jsp
It's not the first time Matthews has dealt with more whiffs than imaginable.
"He went to Milwaukee and they led the league in strikeouts (in 2001) and he cut theirs down last year," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said of Matthews. "Hopefully Gary can cut ours down and help our offense. Between him and (coach) Gene Clines and myself, we'll get it done. You're not going to eliminate them completely."
Clines was a former hitting coach with the San Francisco Giants. Baker had those duties from 1989-92 before becoming the Giants manager. He has even co-written "You Can Teach Hitting" and produced video tapes and conducted clinics on the art of hitting.
But the Cubs present quite a challenge. Chicago batters collectively whiffed 1,269 times. Mark Bellhorn, Alex Gonzalez, Corey Patterson and Sammy Sosa each struck out more than 100 times. Combine that with a .246 team batting average and a .241 average with runners in scoring position and the Cubs' 67-95 record isn't too hard to figure out.
"More than likely most of the guys who have been striking out have been striking out most of their lives," Baker said. "We'll try to give them a little different approach, a little different attitude about it, and not dwell on it but work on it. It takes time. Hopefully by season's end we'll be better this year than last year."
Matthews wants the Cubs to think positive.
"What I've done is make sure I don't mention the word strikeout," said the former Cub outfielder, who starred for the 1984 team.
"I think the presence of a new staff will help and I've mentioned getting more walks as opposed to dwelling on the strikeouts," Matthews said. "There have been some guys I've talked to one on one and said, 'Geez, you've got to cut down on strikeouts.'" But Matthews doesn't want players to go the plate, fall behind 0-2 and give in. By changing their mental approach, he hopes to alter the results.
"What I'm talking about is the more experience they get, the less they're going to strike out," he said. "Sammy played for more years, more years, and he became a better hitter and now he gets it. You can only get that through experience." Don't think the Cubs will become more passive at the plate. Matthews wants them to be aggressive. Just be smart.
"I think that from the new environment to some of the new approaches, I believe a good hitter has to know the strike zone to be successful in the Major Leagues," he said. "I think once you get to this level it's more mental than physical. I'm concentrating more on the mental part of it. I've been doing it since I was playing."
Instead of swinging for the fences during batting practice, the Cubs hitters are told a count or a situation and expected to respond appropriately.
"I'll tell a hitter, 'The count's 2-2, man on third,' or 'Runner on second,' or 'Give me a 2-0 swing,' 'Give me a 3-1 swing,'" Matthews said. "During the course of the season, those situations come up constantly. By doing that and working on it daily, things work out for you." It often seemed as if the Cubs batters fell behind in the count quickly last season. The team batted a dismal .246 and stranded runners in scoring position.
"If a hitter is 0-2, it tells me that he's not aggressive," Matthews said. "Usually that means a pitcher is getting ahead on a first-pitch fastball. That's the pitch I want them to be able to concentrate on and move and put into play.
"I want them to be aggressive," he said, "but I want them to do it under control."
That's tricky and the idea of knowing the strike zone comes into play. There are signs of progress. Patterson has three walks in four games this spring. In the second half last season, he only drew two walks in 276 at-bats.
"We're just trying to have him confine his strike zone," Baker said of the young center fielder. "When you don't walk, you're fouling off pitches you should have put in fair territory or you're swinging at pitches that are balls."
Patterson, 23, who is coming off his first full season in the big leagues, is getting plenty of tutoring.
"It comes from at-bats, it comes from experience, it comes from repetitions," Baker said of Patterson. "He'll figure it out. He'll get it. There's that need to win right now that puts undo pressure on some of these kids."
Matthews is familiar with Gonzalez. The two were together in Toronto in 1998-99 when Matthews was the hitting coach there. The Blue Jays ranked fifth in the American League in batting average each of the his two seasons there.
"We have a good feeling of what we want to do," Gonzalez said. "I think he likes to coach using positive thinking and not dwell on too many negative things. I'm sure that's the way he'll do it this year, just try to stay positive and think positive things."
Familiarity will help. Matthews sees other signs of life in the Cubs offense, including a healthy Moises Alou. That should ease some of the burden that Sosa has carried.
But there is another, more subtle element working in the Cubs favor that Matthews sees this spring.
"There are times in a ballplayer's career where your peers will look at it as your team," Matthews said. "When I played in '84, that was my team. When I left, it became (Ryne Sandberg's) team. For a while it became (Mark Grace's) team and everybody knew that.
"I've always felt a true superstar isn't the guy with the most points or the most rebounds, he's the guy who makes the other players play better on his team. I think Sammy will get to this point more this year."
Imagine if all the Cubs were hitting like Sosa.
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/chc/news/chc_news.jsp?ymd=20030304&content_id=209722&vkey=spt2003news&fext=.jsp