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Pirate City Notes: The Pros and Cons of MLB Players Going to Minor League Camp

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BRADENTON, Fla. – I had an interesting discussion with Gerrit Cole and Josh Harrison after today’s games at Pirate City.

Cole was over there trying to get up to 100 pitches. He ended up getting to 98 in seven innings of work, looking good with his velocity. He was hitting 97 MPH a few times, including once on a swinging strikeout. I caught him as he was coming off the field, heading back over to LECOM park. While discussing his focus today, he mentioned the atmosphere at Pirate City was different.

“This environment is a little bit different than typically what we’re used to,” Cole said. “Just trying to work on things that I can control. We stayed with just the things we wanted to improve on from inning to inning, and kind of put it all together in the last couple of innings.”

The biggest thing Cole said that he wanted to work on today was to get into a few situations with a runner on base, looking to control the running game. The results went well in that area. He also wanted to get to the seventh inning, which he did. The plan is to dial things back to three innings the next time out in his final start before Opening Day.

Cole was walking off the field with Harrison, who was over at Pirate City working on getting at-bats after being away from camp with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. After talking to Cole, I asked Harrison how he felt getting back.

“The main focus for me was to just see pitches,” Harrison said. “Before I left, I saw quite a few pitches in the games that I played. Here, I knew I had a chance to focus on doing exactly that. I got a chance to work from behind in a lot of counts, because I wasn’t swinging early. For me, it was about pitches, and I felt pretty good.”

Harrison then mentioned something similar to Cole, about how the environment was different here. We started discussing this, and Cole, who was standing a few feet away, elaborated further on how it was different.

“It’s just a different picture,” Cole said. “You’re not even used to people just standing behind the hitter.”

“And also I’m batting out of order every time, too,” Harrison added.

Typically when a Major League hitter comes over to minor league camp, he bats first in each inning, switching back and forth between both games, getting at least ten plate appearances in the day. They only focus on hitting, and get a pinch runner when they reach base. Harrison had one point where he almost got a chance to hit twice in the same inning, within the span of five hitters.

“I hit on one field, went to the other, and when I came back I asked if it was the same inning,” Harrison said.

It’s definitely a different environment at Pirate City. There are very few fans, and the fans who are there are mostly gathered right behind the fence, not making nearly as much noise as the crowd at LECOM. That makes it a great environment for fans, but doesn’t provide the same atmosphere for players.

“You practice over here, and then you go into one of those games and you don’t know how to deal with the adrenaline,” Cole said. “You practice with the adrenaline and you come over here…”

“It’s hard to match up,” Harrison finished.

At that point there was a bad call in the Triple-A game, where the umpire ruled a guy out at second who appeared to be safe. We commented on the play, then ended the discussion about the differences at Pirate City. That said, here is my summary on the pros and cons of each.

Pirate City – The pro here is that guys can get their work in. Harrison got double-digit plate appearances today in actual games, rather than 3-4 in a game over at LECOM, which would have come at the expense of other players in MLB camp who are competing for spots. Cole got seven innings, with no worries that a long inning could end his day early and send him to the bullpen. He was able to get seven innings and someone like Trevor Williams, who is competing for a spot, was able to get work in a real game with the real atmosphere.

The downside here is that it can be difficult to replicate the same environment. It’s not just the lack of fans and noise, but the way the innings are run. A hitter can’t really prepare for his at-bats the same way when he’s hitting every inning, and bouncing back and forth between fields and games. A pitcher might get three quick outs and have to remain out there for more pitches, or get pulled for too many pitches with less than three outs. It’s tough treating that like a real game when the rules of a real game don’t apply.

LECOM – The pro here is that it’s an actual game, and also that you know you’re going up against some MLB players. You get the real game environment, from the fans and atmosphere, to the fact that you can treat innings and at-bats like they are real game scenarios. The downside is that you might not get as much work, either by getting pulled for a long inning, or being limited in at-bats. You also might be taking time that could be given to someone trying to compete to make the roster.

So while the trips over to Pirate City aren’t the best approach for the individual players preparing for real games, they are better for the overall team. Getting the borderline players the challenging playing time should be the priority, since that gives the best evaluation opportunities. And making sure the guys who are guaranteed to make the majors are getting the maximum playing time is a good approach, since you make sure that those guys are getting ready for the season.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim 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.

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