Talking offense with O's co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller

PHOENIX – In his fourth year in the O’s organization, Ryan Fuller, 33, is in his second season on the major league staff. He is co-hitting coach, working alongside Matt Borgschulte and offensive strategy coach Cody Asche.

The trio is there to prepare, provide scouting reports, help and work with O’s hitters in any ways they can to make them better.

The Orioles rank fourth in the American League scoring 4.98 runs per game. They trail only Texas, Tampa Bay and Houston in those rankings.

Fuller was interviewed this week on the Orioles Radio Network for the pregame show and was asked if the coaches have some hitting philosophies that pertain to every O’s hitter?

“Our cornerstones from the DR (Dominican Republic) all the way to the big leagues is control the zone,” said Fuller. “Positive swing decisions. If you do that it is going to lead to constant contact and if you have contact on pitches in zone, it’s going to lead to damage. And those extra-base hits and game-changing swings.

“Those three components – we want to control the zone well, we want to put contact on the baseball and not just any kind of contact, but hard contact.”

Fuller was the hitting coach at Low-A Delmarva in 2020 (the minor league season was cancelled by the pandemic) and at Double-A Bowie in 2021. There he worked with Adley Rutschman, Kyle Stowers, Terrin Vavra, Jordan Westburg, Joey Ortiz and late in the year Gunnar Henderson.

Fuller said there were no major changes Henderson made this year but in mid-May his batting average was .171 and OPS was .650. But now he is a strong Rookie of the Year candidate with an OPS of .855 and 42 extra-base hits in 89 games since May 13.

“Every young hitter is going to go through that (struggles) at some point,” Fuller said of Henderson. “With him there were a few mechanical things we had to work on but for him, it was just being a 21-year-old in the big leagues. Learning how to deal with pressure, learning how to deal with the ups and downs. And we knew it was a matter of time before he got rolling like he is now. He’s going to be a special player for the next 10-20 years in the big leagues.”

So not much needed to be changed?

“And that is a credit to our player development staff. The plan was in place, since really the alternate site (at Bowie) during 2020. We worked on the same things with him and chiseling away. Like with any player you have to continue to work and develop. But he had high clarity on what we were working on and so did all our coaches. A team effort from the minor league side to the big league side,” he said.

Since returning from dealing with vertigo, Ryan Mountcastle has hit .357/.429/.564/.993 in 42 games. His plate discipline has been better. He has seven games this year drawing two walks and five have come in his last 42 games.

“His focus has been tremendous, and I think that stems from feeling healthy,” stated Fuller. “Going up there and feeling like himself. Right now, his swing decisions are improving a little bit. Where last year a two-walk game was a career-high, he has had multiple occasions as of late.

“For Mounty, he can send the ball a long way, but being able to just get on base when they present you with a walk, he’s been huge for us recently.”

Has Mountcastle turned a corner with an improved batting eye and less chasing?

“We’ll see. Last year he ended the year really well with his swing decisions. But for a guy like Mounty, his profile his whole career has been high slug, a little bit of chase. When we decrease chase and stay in the zone and focus on the heart of the plate, he’s going to be in good shape. Stay focused on the simple things that work,” he said.

Another young hitter starting to find his way at the big league level is Jordan Westburg, who is batting .261/.310/.392/.702 in 48 games. His OPS plus is 94.

“He is an unbelievable worker," Fuller said. "When he got up here, he didn’t say, ‘Here’s what I’ve done, and I want to keep doing it. It was, what do you guys see and how do I adjust to big league pitching quicker?’ Been so impressed how he can go into a game, struggled a little bit and then to have the awareness to say ‘I’m struggling with sliders away, two-seamers in. Let’s attack that in the cage.’ His ability to make adjustments on a game-to-game basis is really exciting for us."

Westburg hit 18 homers this year in 301 plate appearances at Triple-A and has hit just two in 168 plate appearances in the majors. But Fuller can sense Westburg’s power is about to show itself.

“I see it coming. Honestly, it’s exciting to think about – him having a big contribution on the field without being his true self yet. We’ve seen it at the minor league level. It’s light tower power. He can change the game with one swing. But he is still having productive at-bats and finding ways of getting on and having clutch hits. That’s exciting. And we know there is another level for him coming," he said.