Detroit Tigers base runner Austin Jackson is tagged out trying to steal second base by Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria during the third inning of their MLB Grapefruit League baseball game on March 5, 2012.
This season, more than ever, he has also come to understand his potential as a hitter. After 25 games in Las Vegas at the end of last season, he says his off-season workouts focused on curbing a tendency to pull away from pitches as he swung.
He credits Las Vegas hitting coach Chad Mottola with helping him to refine his swing once the season started.
“I wasn’t able to reach the fastballs and breaking balls on the outside part of the plate,” Hechavarria says. “I couldn’t hit them. Now I have been working on that all year and I get to them pretty easy.”
The mention of Mottola’s name brings a smile. “He’s always on top of me. I feel very lucky to have a hitting coach like him.”
Las Vegas manager Marty Brown, who will manage the PCL team in Wednesday’s all-star game, also credits Mottola with helping Hechavarria improve his bat-handling techniques.
“Hech has come in and started to really understand the way we want him to play,” Brown says. “He’s going to have to handle the bat, hit-and-run, get bunts down. He’s going to have to do the little things.”
There has never been doubt about Hechavarria’s defensive abilities. He is nimble and smooth, with quick hands and feet, and he often leaves observers agape at his highlight-reel plays. He also remains an unfinished product.
“With him being so good, and being young, sometimes he makes careless mistakes that can drive you nuts,” Brown says. “And then he’ll make a great play. That’s what he’s working on right now — his consistency at the minor-league level, so when he gets to the big leagues we don’t see that loss of focus on a routine ground ball.”
This season, Hechavarria has played eight games at second base. The Blue Jays insist they still see him as a shortstop, but with second baseman Kelly Johnson on a one-year contract, they are also keeping their options open.
