Doctor Strange isn’t the best super hero.
I’m not talking about the quality of the movies. I can think of maybe six better movies to enjoy with a deep indica. I’m talking about the tendencies of the character, especially in the MCU. Since the first movie, Doctor Strange has shown two alarming trends.
The first trend is that he always has to hold the scalpel. This is explicitly stated and shown many times, whether in actual surgery, or when saving the world. Doctor Strange is adamant to show everyone that only he can save everyone, and doesn’t need any help.
The second trend?
Doctor Strange doesn’t believe in himself.
ST. PETERSBURG – Baseball players aren’t super heroes.
If they have heightened abilities, it’s because they have trained their bodies through time and a proven successful routine to elevate themselves to those heights.
I mean, unless you’re Oneil Cruz.
OH MY ONEIL! pic.twitter.com/WIcm0Nz59o
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 28, 2022
I’m pretty sure that dude is an actual super hero.
If Cruz has taught us anything, it’s that with great power…
…comes millions of people following your every success and failure.
“You’ve heard it your whole life, baseball is more of a mental game,” said Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bligh Madris. “When you’re failing in a game 70 percent of the time and you’re the best player on the field, it’s mentally taxing and mentally tough.”
I’ve been covering baseball player development on this site since 2009. I don’t think I’ve heard a better summary of the mental struggle of trying to perform in a game of “who can fail the least” in front of so many fans each night.
Because, do you really think that the human brain can tell the difference between failing 70% of the time and 80% without the stats that we use to evaluate players? Would that even be noticeable?
The fans would notice, for sure. As would the team.
I was talking with Pirates outfielder Cal Mitchell about his numbers not matching up with his batted ball data. Mitchell has a .193 average in 83 at-bats, despite a high line drive rate (26.2%) and a low soft contact rate (8.2%). Those numbers typically lead to a higher average, and my expectation was for better results going forward. Mitchell felt the same.
“I feel good in the box, and I know if I continue to hit balls hard, everything will be alright,” Mitchell told me in Tampa last weekend.
A few days later, Mitchell was sent to the minors when the Pirates activated Josh VanMeter from the injured list.
It’s difficult to imagine how a young player could gain any confidence at the highest level — where failure is so immediately abundant at the hands of experienced veterans, and where your roster spot is always in jeopardy under the right set of circumstances.
How do the Pirates take a team full of young players and turn them into veterans who can eventually help lead this team to a World Series?
*****
“You think you know how the world works? You think that this material universe is all there is? What is real? What mysteries lie beyond the reach of your senses? At the root of existence, mind and matter meet. Thoughts shape reality.” – The Ancient One
When the battle gets tough, Dr. Stephen Strange gets that look and gets inside his head. He considers that he might lose. Rather than sticking to the plan, and sticking out the fight with his team, he breaks the natural law to find a shortcut to the desired outcome.
And thus, a bad habit is formed.
This bad habit works the first time. So, he does it again. It keeps working. Sure, the Earth almost gets absorbed into the Dark Dimension once, and the Multiverse almost immediately implodes upon itself twice, but in the end, Strange gets the desired outcome where he is the hero, so he keeps getting validation.
Until Clea shows up with some news — Doctor Strange is being sent down from the main MCU to fix some development issues as a result of his continued bad habits.
*****
“I think the one thing we have to continue to talk about are those learning moments. We are going to make mistakes. It’s just making sure we don’t make mistakes over and over again.” – Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton
The Pirates have a young team.
In the first half of the 2022 season, they’ve seen 20 rookies in action. That group includes a dozen players who have made their MLB debuts this year.
Despite the inexperience, this Pirates team has been better than expected. They are 30-45, so this doesn’t fully show up in the record books. This performance shows up in some of their surprising wins, but is even on display in some of their losses.
The Pirates were swept last weekend by the Rays in three close contests. The Rays are 40-34, currently in fourth place in a very competitive AL East.
“I can tell you from years of experience of being in the American League East, it’s a monster,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of the competition.
Yet, the Pirates kept it close. They lost one game on a walk-off. They had the tying run at the plate in another loss.
“We continue to give ourselves chances, and I think that’s the thing that stands out with this group of players,” continued Shelton. “We have to continue to teach them in terms of how to finish these.”
The Pirates have lost twice as many as they’ve won this month, with the Braves, Cardinals, and Rays handing down a combined ten losses. During this stretch, despite the losing, the energy has started to shift around the team. That shift may have originated from a three game sweep against the Dodgers coming into the month.
“I think that just gave us all a bunch of confidence, myself included,” said Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller. “Especially my first start back, after coming out of the pen, having some success there. It’s huge. Any confidence is huge.”
The Pirates will need to manage the confidence levels of their younger players. It probably adds some level of confidence that the Pirates have been willing to give extended looks to those players. This allows opportunities to gain confidence, and work through mistakes and struggles.
Diego Castillo made the roster out of Spring Training, after a nice power display. Castillo is currently on a power stretch in the majors, but isn’t hitting much beyond home runs. The infielder said that his mindset, and specifically his self-talk, is essential to working through the rough stretches.
“For me, the key is believing in myself all the time, talking to myself in my mind,” said Castillo. “That’s the key. At some point, good things are going to be there.”
Castillo is getting results in the power department right now, but it doesn’t always have to be a home run that leads to positive feedback for the players.
“Even if it’s just one little thing, if it’s getting the bunt down or hitting a homer or drawing a walk and getting on base to help your team, it’s just the little stuff like that that goes a long way in this game,” said Madris. “It’s not always the homer that wins the game. Maybe you grounded into a double play, but you beat it out at first, and the next guy comes up and hits a homer. That leads to an extra run that you weren’t supposed to have. It’s all about doing little stuff like that, that goes unnoticed.”
Mistakes are going to happen. The Pirates welcome them as teaching moments. Without failure, a player wouldn’t know where to improve his game, and wouldn’t grow. What the Pirates are focused on is seeing players graduate from those mistakes.
“I think the one thing we have to continue to talk about are those learning moments,” said Shelton. “We are going to make mistakes. It’s just making sure we don’t make mistakes over and over again.”
*****
Jonathan Pangborn: I’d given up on my body. I thought my mind’s the only thing I have left I should at least try to elevate that. So, I sat with gurus and sacred women. Strangers carried me to mountaintops to see holy men, and finally I found my teacher. And my mind was elevated, and my spirit deepened. And somehow…
Dr. Stephen Strange: Your body healed.
Jonathan Pangborn: Yes. There were deeper secrets to learn there, but I didn’t have the strength to receive them. I chose to settle for my miracle and I came back home. The place you’re looking for is called Kamar-Taj, but the cost there is high.
Dr. Stephen Strange: How much?
Jonathan Pangborn: I’m not talking about money. Good luck.
And then Doctor Strange traveled across the world and had a cup of tea in Kamar-Taj. Following this, he was left on the doorstep intentionally by The Ancient One to learn an important lesson, despite Super Two complaints from The Avengers. Ultimately, I don’t think he ever learned the lesson. His actions since have left the MCU ripe for my boy Kang the Conqueror to take over at least two universes, providing an important lesson for us all:
If you keep making the same mistake over and over, you will be conquered.
Or, Kevin Feige will break everyone’s brains with Secret Wars and force Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield to fight until the last man standing, with only one survivor.
I don’t know what is going to happen.
But Kevin, you should definitely call me about Kang.
*****
One of the most visually confident players I’ve seen on the Pirates this year is Daniel Vogelbach.
On Sunday, Vogelbach had the day off. He spent the morning with his family on the field at The Trop, enjoying his break. By the eighth inning, he was needed for a pinch-hit appearance, and did this.
Daniel Vogelbach – Pittsburgh Pirates (9) pic.twitter.com/MYE0uDYPBG
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) June 26, 2022
Three pitches was all it took for Vogelbach to add a run, complete with his signature trot around the bases. And it was his day off, he wasn’t even supposed to be here.
On the season, Vogelbach has a .220/.324/.430 line with ten homers — adding one more since the end of the Rays series. Vogelbach has played in the majors for parts of seven seasons. He will reach 400 career games at some point next week. He’s one of the veterans in the clubhouse, and can share an important lesson about how to remain in the majors.
“I think you have to have confidence in yourself,” Vogelbach said of his own self-confidence. “If you don’t have confidence in yourself when you play this game, you’re going to get eaten alive. This game is just tough, and it’s the best players in the world. I think everyone should have the confidence in themselves when they step on the field.”
The confidence from the 29-year-old first baseman originated before his professional playing days.
“Since I was in high school, I believed in myself,” said Vogelbach. “I always believed that I could hit, and even when you’re struggling, you have to always believe that.”
Sometimes, you need to be your own support system.
Pirates outfielder Jack Suwinski is currently tied for the MLB rookie lead in home runs. The 23-year-old Suwinski likes to settle his mind with books in order to get in the right headspace each day.
“A little bit of that is tricking yourself sometimes,” said Suwinski. “Some days it will be different than others, but just finding things that you can go back to certain situations, and finding ways to have that competitive encouraging mindset to yourself, because that self-talk goes a long way.”
Developing that mindset isn’t a comfortable process.
“You have to be super-positive, super-energetic, super-encouraging to yourself,” said Suwinski. “Sometimes it’s hard, but it works. Just hearing those words and saying those words over and over again, it starts to create good habits.”
Suwinski said that there are some days for him where it’s more difficult to get the words out. On those difficult days, he turns to outside support.
“I’ll read the Bible, stay in the word,” said Suwinski. “Talk to my friends, we have a pretty good faith group. Just stay anchored there, and I think that’s when I’m at my best self as a person. When I’m my best self as a person, I can come here, and be free, and be open. Not have anything holding me back, so when I go to get myself ready the best as I can and let my preparation handle everything.”
The most challenging thing for the younger players is envisioning the exponential growth that is taking place over the long-term. That can be difficult to see when the short-term actions are so miniscule. Suwinski likened those small actions to stacking chips.
“Two weeks, one month, two months down the road, you kind of have a big pile of those chips and things start taking off,” said Suwinski. “You’re either going to go one direction or the other, and once you start going it’s too late, because you’ve created those habits that kick you in that direction.”
*****
“Just because someone stumbles and loses their path, doesn’t mean they’re lost forever.” – Charles Xavier
Seriously, Kevin Feige, I’ve got a whole idea about Doctor DOOM and the remaining Fantastic Four from Universe-838 fighting the Kang from the TVA at the end of Loki. Hit me up.
*****
Baseball players aren’t super heroes.
They’re people.
We all operate the same.
We all thrive on positive reinforcement, whether that talk comes from ourselves or those around us.
We grow only when we’ve got an established routine.
The Pirates have a lot of young human beings making their way to the majors.
Every one of them has the skills and abilities to stick in the majors.
That is easier said than done in a game with so much failure, and so little job security.
With the right mindset and routine, any of these players can play at the highest level.
THIS WEEK ON PIRATES PROSPECTS
Williams: The Major League Baseball Mindset
How Mitch Keller’s New Sinker Complements His Other Pitches
JT Brubaker Discusses the Short Memory Needed in the Majors
Pirates Roundtable: When Did Realize You Would Reach the Majors?
Zach Thompson Made an Important Change to His Mindset in 2021
Jack Suwinski Put in Work to Gain an Edge
Bligh Madris Discusses Core Value of Perseverance and His Power Increase
Diego Castillo is Hitting a Lot of Homers and Very Little Else
Cam Vieaux Finding Success With His Slider in the Bullpen
Yerry De Los Santos Impressive So Far in His MLB Debut
+ postsTim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.
These guys deserve an effort to win next year. They deserve to be supplemented with some firepower. They deserve additional good veterans who have “been there”.
I’ve done the math, and assuming they don’t pick up Stratton and Newman, and that they do pick up Vogelbach, and the handful of guys entering ARB1 get something like a 5 million dollar raise, that puts payroll somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 million. Maybe 50 if you factor in an entire 40 man roster vs 26. Obviously Ethan could give a better estimate than me, but i’d imagine i’m within reasonable error bars.
This is a team that spent around 110 in the mid 2010s. Not to mention, 110 in 2015 is worth more like 135 in 2022 dollars due to inflation.
Just imagine what they could do with that 65 million. Just imagine how excited people would be if they went on a 65 million dollar bender this offseason. Nutting would be viewed as a changed man, when meanwhile all he’d be doing is getting payroll back to a still-pathetic level. Imagine the kind of experience and ability they could bring into that clubhouse to help these guys win.
You may like different players or think my contracts are off on my specific players, but my point is not really about the *specifics*. It’s about the idea of adding real players to this team. Theoretical offseason:
Jamo – 3 yr 55 mil… 18 per yr
Jose Abreu – 3 yr 55 mil… 18 per yr
Vet Catcher like Roberto Perez – 3 per yr
Vet pitcher similar to Q and Ty Anderson signings – 3 per yr
Michael Brantley – 2 yr 30 mil… 15 per yr
Deal some excess prospects for someone like Luis Castillo, who will make something like 10 mil. Gotta think something like Mitchell or Gonzalez for 1 yr of castillo isnt terribly far off.
That kind of offseason would put spending right in line with the mid 2010s and there’d still be prospect cavalry on the way.
Or hell, just hand Aaron Judge 2 yr * 125 mil and dare him to not take it.
Rotation with Jamo, Roansy, Castillo, Brubaker, and Quintana type, with Keller around too. Burrows Priester Yajure as AAA depth.
LF Brantley, CF Reynolds, RF Suwi/Swagg.
3b Hayes,SS Cruz, 2b BaePriesterCastilloParkMarcanoPeguero, 1b Abreu, DH Vogey
C Perez + lg min guy until it becomes Davis+perez.
By June youre running out
Brantley Reynolds Abreu Cruz Vogey Suwinski Davis Hayes Bae
That’s a good team. These young guys deserve it rather than another year of being treated like a full season of spring training.
Man this would be a fun team to watch! Especially the transition of Priester to a second baseman lol
lmao i wonder why i did that. Was i trying to type Peguero and typed the “other” P prospect’s name? who knows.
Just predicting the pirates’ emphasis on positional flexibility!
Great vignettes here. Thanks Tim!
Great article!
This article has given me much more understanding of the group of players who don’t look at stats and metrics.
Ignorance, arguably, but who could maintain such an unwavering confidence when constantly looking at evidence of failure?
I get it. Leave that stuff for the coaches to translate into actions.
Something I was thinking about, we all know this quote:
“Know what the difference between hitting .250 and .300 is? It’s 25 hits. 25 hits in 500 at bats is 50 points, okay? There’s 6 months in a season, that’s about 25 weeks. That means if you get just one extra flare a week – just one – a gorp… you get a groundball, you get a groundball with eyes… you get a dying quail, just one more dying quail a week… and you’re in Yankee Stadium.
— Crash Davis
Now, imagine you’re a .200 hitter trying to get to .250. Still one extra hit a week.
How many weeks until you notice that you’ve been consistently getting one extra hit a week?
How long do you have to be a .250 hitter until it raises that former .200 average enough to reflect who you are now?
And if you’re a .200 hitter one month and .250 the next month, which one is real? Do you split the difference and consider yourself a .225 hitter, thus ruling out that you ever are really a .250 hitter?
There are so many reasons why players need to be ignorant of the stats. At any point in time, they can become a different player. At that point, the stats only show who they were.
I’ve gotta imagine that’s difficult when you know you’ve changed, but the rest of the world still sees the results from the old you. In that scenario, is the player being ignorant by disagreeing with everyone? Or, are we all being ignorant by assuming that any player’s numbers are final?
I don’t have the answers, but this stuff is why I love this game. This is life.
Love every bit of this, Tim.