Borgschulte on working with Hyde, building player trust and more

When I interviewed new Orioles co-hitting coach Matt Borgschulte recently, I asked him what stats are important to him in dealing with his hitters. When it comes to a question like this one, we have to keep in mind that the teams have so many more available stats and data than the media and general public. No one is going to give away any secrets here.

But he did provide a few examples and that is where we began to discuss strikeouts and how the coaches will try to help the hitters produce fewer of them. I wrote about that in this entry.

"I mean we look at OPS a lot and we look at walk percentage, strikeout rate," said Borgschulte, 31, of the stats question. "Kind of just like a holistic view of how we can kind of break down those little categories to say where can we find improvement within those different areas. Obviously, we want to do damage but we also don't want to strikeout because there is not as much value in that.

"Now there are different ways we can maneuver through that, like why are you striking out? Because you are swinging at too many pitches? Because you are not swinging at enough pitches early and are getting into bad counts? I think breaking that down and kind of finding out exactly where we can have the most success - that is where we want to look.

"And there are so many different numbers out there that can tell you so many different things about each player and we try to find the best way to relate that through to the player and send a message of what we're really trying to do. We're not making up any numbers but it helps to have some of the expected numbers potentially as well for guys. They may be getting really unlucky and we can kind of give them an idea, 'OK, you're hitting balls at the right angles and doing the right things, it's just unlucky right now so stay the course and we'll continue to see that these results eventually will start coming through."

Again, when it comes to hitters, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Different approaches and different coaching for different players.

"So, like I said, we're looking at all kinds of different numbers and trying to figure out exactly which one is the best and if it even needs to be shared with the player," Borgschulte said. "Just the overall view, we are looking at those three main pieces of damage - getting on base and of course, in the end, the goal is to score more runs that the other team. So within the hitting aspect, we have to move runners around on the bases, we've got to get first to third, stealing bases when necessary. It's all part of an offensive philosophy and while that's not necessarily our entire focus, it's all inter-related, and we have to create as many runs as we can to win."

Borgschulte joins the Orioles after four seasons coaching in the Minnesota Twins organization. In 2018, he coached for the Twins in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. He coached at high Single-A in 2019, at their alternate site with no minor league games in 2020 and last year for the Triple-A St. Paul Saints.

Gaining the trust of his new O's players will be big for him in the coming season. Borgschulte said when the clubhouse sees even one player make gains through coaching help, it leads to the group being more receptive to the coaches.

"Well, getting to know the players is such an important part," he said. "I think having them understand where we're coming from and that we're not saying like, 'You have to do this or that.' We're presenting them with some opportunities, I think, for them to understand and get a glimpse into the fact we're going to work our tails off to make sure that we've looked at every possible way they can improve. Anything we can find on the opposing pitcher, anything we can do to give them a competitive advantage, that goes a long way for them to understand the work we are going to put in and already have. We will make sure they are as prepared as they possibly can be for that situation.

"Also, having some results. Some players starting to improve. You can have a great relationship with players, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will trust you with their skills. You do have to prove you are able to help them get better. That is a big piece to show that, here are some things we have done to help this particular player. That is why we think this is right for you or this is not right for you. That combination is what we will do a great job to get the buy-in that is necessary."

Borgschulte said there are similarities in how the Twins and Orioles work with young hitters.

"Yeah, there are similarities for sure, and I was very, very impressed watching kind of how things worked on the (Orioles) minor league side," he said. "Obviously, I haven't been able to see as much on the major league side yet. Seeing how they've structured the minor league system and the training environments they've created and the buy-in they created with the players is really fascinating. And it's exciting for me to be a part of it and attempt to recreate that again at the major league level and helps these players perform at their peak as much as possible."

Borgschulte and co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller spent some time in Florida recently with manager Brandon Hyde.

"I think it's a great opportunity for us to help develop players at the major league level as well," Borgschulte said. "So developing minor league players to get to the big leagues, that process doesn't stop. We're always going to continue to get better with the players and as coaches we will try to continue to get better as well.

"Brandon has done an amazing job and he has some really great experience in doing that. With players in the minors and in the majors. That is a very exciting thing for me and Fuller to be a part of that. We will continue that development process as much as we can."

That is an important point for the future of the Orioles that Borgschulte touched on in helping players finish development at the major league level. In some instances, that is very necessary in getting any young player to realize his full potential.

"No question," Borgschulte said. "That is the exciting part about it. Getting these guys to the major leagues and having then grow and continue to improve. It's not like, 'You're in the majors, so just play.' We will continue to help develop and find ways that we can keep their learning process and improvement steadily happening throughout their career."