BRADENTON, Fla. – Connor Joe has had an interesting career path so far, to say the least. Shortly after signing with the Pirates as a first round compensation pick, he went to Jamestown. In his first week of workouts with the team, before games even started, he suffered a back injury that put him out for the 2014 season, that entire off-season, and half of the 2015 season, with the latter part due to the Pirates being conservative bringing him back.
Joe didn’t show the best numbers in West Virginia last year, but did show potential. It was the same case in Bradenton to start the 2016 season. He had no more limitations, and was playing everyday. He looked good on the field, but the results weren’t there, with a .236/.297/.342 line in 175 plate appearances the first two months of the year.
That’s when Joe turned things around, and started putting up numbers that matched what he was showing in flashes at the plate for the last year and a half. From the start of June until the end of the season, he put up a .306/.386/.428 line in 268 plate appearances. The change took place not because of an adjustment to his swing, but after a focus on an approach that worked for him.
“Me and [Hitting Coach] Keoni [De Renne] have been working a lot, not necessarily on the swing, but on the approach, on the mental side,” Joe said. “Just being more aggressive. More aggressive early in the count. Staying stubborn to my approach. I worked really well to the gaps, so staying middle of the field. Not trying to yank or anything like that. It’s allowed me to see the ball better, and just really hit balls that my swing works for.”
De Renne is Joe’s hitting coach for the second year in a row, coaching him in West Virginia last year, and moving up with him and other West Virginia hitters to Bradenton this year. So he had that familiarity with Joe’s game, and knew what he was capable of.
“I think a lot of it is the confidence,” De Renne said of the change in the stats. “Last year was his first full year. Basically, trying to play catch-up because he missed the summer before, with about 200 at-bats, because he got hurt.”
The biggest thing, according to De Renne, was that Joe was trying to do too much to prove himself, which led to him pressing at the plate and getting off his game.
“I think that’s a recipe for disaster, especially when you are in a position like he is to come out and hit,” De Renne said. “He cleaned himself up as far as his mechanics during the instructional league, and he worked his tail off all off-season. You can see the results from a physical standpoint, what he can do physically with his mechanics. And then obviously adding that to what his approach is, now you’re seeing the result of what he’s been capable of doing all along to go along with his good strike zone judgement as well.”
Joe’s improved approach was shown last night in Bradenton’s clinching victory over St. Lucie in the FSL South Championship series. He started off the hitting with a solo homer to the opposite field on a two-seam fastball away. He also showed the ability to hit to other parts of the field, pulling two to the left side, including a double ripped down the third base line. The way Bradenton Manager Michael Ryan described it, Joe’s approach last night was a microcosm of the approach that has led to success this year.
“It’s a big part of the field approach,” Ryan said. “Trying to drive the ball to right-center. It keeps them on the off-speed. It’s something that you can pull. He’s got really quick hands. He’s done a good job of trusting those hands in the second half, and his numbers have been pretty good.”
The most impressive thing was that Joe was able to make a quick adjustment between games one and two. He went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in the first game, only to bounce back and go 3-for-4 with a double and a homer in game two.
“I just got him back on to what his approach is and what his strengths are,” De Renne said. “[Tuesday] night I think he got into his own head as far as trying to out-think the game and trying to out-think what the opposition was going to do. We had talked about it last night. You could tell he just wasn’t right. Either he was over-thinking, or guessing. I told him you’ve got to still stay with your strength, which is staying to the middle, off-gap.”
That worked for Joe on Wednesday night, and helped lead the Marauders to the Florida State League Championship series. It’s an approach that has also worked for Joe for most of the 2016 season, and is getting him back on the prospect radar. If he can keep the same approach going forward, then his offensive ability could get him to the majors one day.
The Adrenaline From Pitching in the Playoffs
The Marauders swept St. Lucie in two games due to an overall combined team effort, with offense that showed up early, and strong starting pitching that preserved the leads. I talked with both starting pitchers yesterday about their experiences pitching in the bigger games. Both players brought up adrenaline in some way, but in each case, they used the extra adrenaline to their advantage.
Mitch Keller got the start in game one, and was cruising through the first four innings.
“It was really exciting,” Keller said of the start. “Just going out there and getting the call for game one, it was really fantastic.”
Keller didn’t have many issues during the first four frames, and hit 99 MPH early in the start. He did run into trouble in the fifth inning, losing control and giving up a few runs before recovering and getting out of the frame with only three runs allowed.
“After the adrenaline kind of wore off, I just needed to find out how my body was working after that,” Keller said. “The adrenaline in the first four innings was huge. Just being able to throw it where I want it to. It kind of wore off a little bit. Just trying to find my delivery again.”
JT Brubaker had a similar experience last night. He said that he had the same game prep going into the start as any other start, but the adrenaline played an impact. (Side note: It was interesting that both pitchers used the word adrenaline and brought up the subject on their own.)
“I treated it as the same,” Brubaker said of the start. “It’s the playoffs, but I went through my same prep, same everything as a regular season game. The only difference was the adrenaline. Started off in the early innings, and then calmed down and was able to continue to work.”
Brubaker didn’t have many problems in the first few frames, but did run into some issues where he had to pitch out of some jams in the middle of his six shutout innings.
“It fueled me,” Brubaker said. “The first two or three innings I was amped up. I was commanding it, but I wasn’t sure where it was going to go. There in the fifth, sixth a little bit, I started feeling a little fatigue, legs a little tired. I just had to focus on making more pitches. Making quality pitches [to get them out].”
His outing could have easily gone the same as Keller’s, where he ran into trouble in the fifth inning. However, he made a key pitch throwing a 3-2 slider with two outs and runners at second and third, getting the opposing hitter looking and escaping the frame with no damage. That’s about as quality a pitch as you can get.
Aww, Suchy Suchy Now
Michael Suchy had a big night last night as well, going 3-for-4 with an RBI double that scored Connor Joe in the third inning. The double was opposite field, which isn’t uncommon for Suchy. He hits to the opposite field as well as anyone, and maybe better than most. In fact, for the last year, it has been a focus for him to try and pull the ball, which is the opposite of the approach other hitters take, where they have to make the effort to hit to the opposite field.
Suchy has done a better job this year of pulling the ball to left field, and showing some power while doing that. De Renne said that this comes from staying committed to attacking the fastball, and looking for the pitch on the inner half of the plate.
“When he can stay committed, and he sees it and recognizes it early enough, then he can pull the trigger,” De Renne said. “And if that ball is on the inner half of the plate, he can drive the ball to left-center field with anybody. He’s got the power, he’s got good enough hands, he’s got good enough hand-eye coordination. I think it’s the same thing with a lot of guys at this level, when they try to overthink the situation, they guess, or they miss pitches they probably should be attacking.”
De Renne said that he’d rather see Suchy swinging through three fastballs, rather than taking them and then having to swing at breaking pitches that are down in the zone. Suchy feels that this process is getting easier with more time in pro ball.
“Being able to see professional velo for the last three years [has helped],” Suchy said. “It’s taken time. It was one of my weaknesses in college, and it’s becoming one of my strengths.”
Suchy is still inconsistent with his approach, but has shown some good flashes of hitting ability this year. He had an .889 OPS in May, and an .813 OPS in July. He slumped in August with a .592 OPS, showing that he hasn’t quite figured out the consistency that Joe has this year. However, he’s got a huge frame and a good approach at the plate, so I could see the Pirates giving the outfielder more chances going forward.
