One recurrent theme in questions I’ve gotten through the mailbag this year is my thoughts — or guesses really, since whatever the true answer is happens well behind the scene — on G.M. Pete Putila’s influence over changes in Player Development. Typically, I downplay this for any number of reasons, but predominantly that title inflation in baseball has made the GM position equivalent to the old Assistant GM position of Ned Colletti’s days. The new GM position for many teams is essentially an administrative right-hand to the President of Baseball Operations, who drives all major directives and organizational philosophies. Putila’s obviously an important participant in high-level conversations, of course, and his voice and experience matter certainly, but I’d be surprised to learn that he was dramatically changing development processes or micro-managing the Farm Director
There’s one caveat I might add to this discussion, however. Putila is big advocate of the benefits and advantages of good old fashioned strength gains, and I suspect brings that perspective to a lot of conversations, giving the organization another real advocate of this area — along with Gabe Kapler. And I do think that is becoming a real driver of some organizational imperatives and evaluations. When Kapler said of various players in spring training that “they had a good winter,” this is what he was referring to — they came into camp bigger and stronger and ready to get to work. This is something that the staffs (major and minor) are attuned to and creates a significant positive impression.
I bring all this up because I sat down yesterday with Richmond hitting coach Cory Elasik (a conversation you’ll hear later this week), and among our topics of conversation, I asked about the changed fortunes of Patty Bailey from last year to this. While Elasik had a number of things to say about Bailey, his first, and major, point of emphasis was that Bailey really got after it in the gym this winter and came back much stronger and more physical than he’s been in past seasons. Elasik isn’t the first person who has mentioned off-season strength gains first when asked about Bailey’s turnaround either — it was a major point of conversation in spring training. That’s true of Luis Matos as well. The club wanted to see him get stronger this winter, and he came back noticeably more muscular. It’s not the only thing they wanted to see (from either Matos or Bailey), but it was an important part of the equation.
Which isn’t to say that the club hasn’t been focused on strength and conditioning before now — they have excellent strength coaches assigned at each minor league level, and the gym facilities put in a Papago Park are beyond amazing. But I do think this is an area that continues to increase in importance as a real driver of evaluations and opinions. This is a physical game, and the body is the driver of performance. And players who meet that challenge and show the org that they have a real dedication and focus on maximizing their physicality and strength are going to open doors and opportunities that might otherwise remain closed.
HITTER of the NIGHT: Rayner Arias (DSL), 3 for 5, HR (3), 2b (3), 3b (1), R, 3 RBI, K
PITCHER of the NIGHT: Daniel Blair (SJ), 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K
And, of course, we can’t leave our intro section without giving a huge and hearty note of congratulations to Keaton Winn for an outstanding major league debut — just the 22,965th player to ever get to call themselves a big leaguer. Quite an accomplishment for another player who really put in the work and the sweat equity to make himself bigger, better, and stronger back in those difficult and depressing days of 2020 (as you may remember hearing him discuss this winter when he was a guest on the There R Giants podcast). Congratulations, Keaton. You’re big league now! (and congrats to loyal reader Laura and the whole family, too!)
Now let’s get to the developments of the night — some of which might have been epochal!
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