Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports activities
Michael Fransoso is a superb match for a Mariners player-development machine that thrives with a process-based philosophy. Seattle boasts one of many high farm methods within the sport, and Fransoso, a 31-year-old College of Maine graduate who performed a number of skilled seasons, is an up-and-coming hitting teacher who’s fully-invested in that strategy. His tutelage has to date been on the decrease rungs of the minors: He spent final season working with lots of the group’s greatest position-player prospects within the Arizona Advanced League, and this yr, he’ll be the hitting coach at low-A Modesto.
Earlier this month, Fransoso mentioned the Mariners’ developmental philosophy and the a few of the younger hitters he’s been serving to to hone.
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David Laurila: You joined the group in November 2019. What have been the conversations like throughout, and instantly following, the hiring course of?
Michael Fransoso: “Very process-based. Andy McKay was our farm director, and the whole lot sort of flows by way of him. He’s very process-based, and likewise massive into the psychological sport. That was big. I felt like all of my conversations with the hitting division aligned. All people was on the identical web page by way of the Mariners’ course of — how we need to develop hitters — they usually have been in a position to ship that message to me in a transparent approach. Actually, it’s about dominating the zone.”
Laurila: I feel it’s secure to say that each one groups need their hitters to dominate the zone. What’s the precise course of?
Fransoso: “Once you hear ‘dominate the strike zone,’ you may assume it means ‘swing at strikes and take balls,’ however it’s not that straightforward. We wish it to be easy, however hitting isn’t easy. Dominating the zone is extra of a mindset. It’s additionally a person strategy to handle that hitter-pitcher matchup. Once you break it down, the one factor a hitter controls is whether or not we swing at that pitch. We don’t have management over what the pitcher throws, how onerous he’s throwing, or the break. We don’t even management whether or not it’s a ball or strike, as a result of that’s as much as the umpire.
“Once we speak about dominating the zone, our course of is taking what is basically an uncontrollable factor and bringing a controllable to it. ‘OK, I get to resolve if I swing at this pitch or not.’ The pitcher controls a variety of issues, and we’re making an attempt to take somewhat little bit of that management away. We’re not going to let him management whether or not we swing. That’s how a hitter dominates the zone. It’s a mindset with an strategy. All people’s zone is somewhat bit completely different, and we’re going to dominate it in our swing selections.”
Laurila: How do particular person zones differ? Is it merely a matter of which areas a hitter handles nicely and doesn’t deal with nicely?
Fransoso: “Yeah. That falls into a variety of physiological, technical issues with swings, and correlate with what elements of the zone they hit higher. Possibly it’s a sure pitch they hit higher. However we have now our ‘harm zone,’ and the guts of the plate… everyone goes to do harm there. Proper? In case you can’t hit a ball down the center, onerous, each time, you’re not going to make it. That’s actually everyone’s harm zone. You construct off of that, and that’s the place the person half is available in.
“The guts, the center of the plate — if it’s there, you higher swing. After which, for sure guys, it’d transfer up somewhat bit to the highest of the zone. Now their harm zone is center and somewhat bit up. For an additional man — a Mike Trout, as an example, he hits the low ball rather well — it’s going to be center after which somewhat bit down. That’s the place he needs to dominate. In case you throw it in there, he’s going to swing. In case you don’t throw it in there, he’s going to take his stroll.”
Laurila: What function does tech play within the course of?
Fransoso: “We use that to get a really feel for what our strengths are. The bat is what delivers the blow to the ball, so we use Blast to get measurements of what it’s doing. Is it transferring in an environment friendly technique to the place this man can use his talent set to the very best of his potential? Identical factor if we use Ok-vest. We’re speaking about how the physique strikes and the sequence it strikes in.
“With the swing, if we’re speaking mechanics, we have to get two issues out of it. Are we making good selections as a result of our mechanics enable us to? And is our swing-productivity good — is the ball coming off the bat in a productive approach due to our mechanics? Tech is aiding us in figuring out that.”
Laurila: Have you ever had an opportunity to work with Julio Rodriguez or Noelvi Marte?
Fransoso: “Sure. They have been within the fall tutorial league we had in 2020, they usually’re each particular gamers. Noelvi is coming off a breakout yr, and also you’ve seen what Julio can do. I don’t assume I can really speak about [Rodriguez], as a result of he’s on the 40-man, however I’ll say that he hits the ball onerous. They each do.”
Laurila: Is exit velocity vital to the group?
Fransoso: “It’s for each org, actually. It’s a device. In case you hit the ball more durable, you’ve got extra options. That’s actually what it comes right down to. Baseball is sort of following golf in that respect. Shamble may need began it. In case you hit the ball more durable with optimum ball flight, you’re going to get higher outcomes. That’s true on the golf course, and it’s true on the baseball discipline. And the great thing about that’s, once you prepare proper and do it proper, you don’t really take into consideration hitting it more durable or farther. Merely following the method lets you try this. Now you’ll be able to management what you’ll be able to management, which on this case is taking swing.”
Laurila: Are you able to say somewhat extra about Noelvi Marte?
Fransoso: “I wasn’t round him this yr when he sort of blossomed, however I do know that we began to see his swing selections enhance. He wasn’t chasing as a lot, and that goes into dominating the zone. We additionally noticed his energy begin to take off. He nonetheless has a protracted methods to go, however he’s clearly trending in the suitable course. He’s a tough employee, so he’s going to proceed to push and enhance.”
Laurila: Who was the very best pure hitter you had within the Advanced League?
Fransoso: “Once we speak about dominating zone, there was no person higher than Milkar Perez. His potential to acknowledge pitches and never swing exterior of the zone is superb. Particularly at his age [20 as of this past October]. Clearly, there are issues we’d prefer to see him enhance on. We’d like him to do some bit extra harm, drive the ball within the air and get his slug up. However once more, his potential to grasp his zone is superb. It acquired to a degree the place if an umpire referred to as a strike, and he shook his head, I believed Milkar. It virtually felt like he knew the zone higher than the umpire. Having the ability to management the zone — take borderline pitches and swing at hittable pitches — is a talent. And he has it.”
Laurila: What in regards to the need to see him drive the ball extra typically? How do you go about serving to a younger hitter develop his energy with out possibly compromising what he excels at?
Fransoso: “That’s the great thing about teaching. We’ve acquired to determine a approach to try this. We don’t ever need to take away his energy, his potential to dominate the zone and never chase. On the identical time, he’s a 3rd baseman and a giant sturdy child. We’d like that manufacturing out of his bat; it’s what’s going to maneuver him ahead. So it’s a steadiness. It’s relaying that message and discovering sure follow designs that enable him to thrive with out him actually eager about it. We don’t need to go to him say, ‘Hey, you’ve acquired to hit house runs, man. You’ve acquired to hit the ball within the air.’ Then he may begin chasing, and that’s the very last thing we would like him to do.”
Laurila: A report I noticed on [2021 first-rounder] Harry Ford mentioned that he has an opposite-field strategy however exhibits good uncooked energy when it activates balls. What did you’re employed on with him?
Fransoso: “With him being new to professional ball, we simply sort of let him go. We’ll work with him somewhat extra coming into spring coaching, however we undoubtedly love what we acquired. He’s a really athletic hitter, and he already had sense of zone-discipline when he acquired right here. And he’s acquired that uncooked energy, too. He’s a powerful child, loves the load room, so the exit velocity is simply going to go up for him. Towards the top of the yr, I feel he had three house runs in every week. One was on a dangling breaking ball, and one other was a excessive heater. A few of the issues we noticed him do have been very spectacular.
“Once more, it’s the athletic potential that he has. His physique can transfer in sure methods. You see it when he’s behind the plate. The best way he blocks balls, you’re like, ‘How does his physique transfer like that?’ That interprets over to hitting. He has a singular potential to hit completely different pitches, simply from his athleticism.”
Laurila: Are there particular issues he must work on?
Fransoso: “There’s possibly some room for issues like bat-path, however we don’t go to that technical side until we actually must. We sort of hit the psychological side of it first, then we undergo a technical lens of, ‘Hey, what’s our plan? What’s our strategy, and do our swing selections align with that?’ Then we go physiological. Does his physique enable him to maneuver in sure methods? Can he do what we’re asking him to do? Then we’ll go to that [mechanical] side. So, I feel there are issues we will clear up, however he’s proven the power to hit the ball onerous.”
Laurila: Isn’t specializing in mechanics, not less than not initially, principally a lower-level developmental strategy?
Fransoso: “No. I feel we’ve gone that approach as an org. Are mechanics a significant a part of hitting? They’re. They’re vital — you have to have good mechanics. However on the identical time, these guys wouldn’t be in skilled baseball in the event that they didn’t have mechanics adequate to hit a baseball constantly. You’re at all times refining, you’re at all times looking for higher methods to do one thing, however I feel it’s taken somewhat little bit of a backseat to issues which can be extra vital.
“Your mentality once you go to the plate is extra vital than the way you technically swing the bat. In case you don’t have mindset, you’re not going to carry out. It doesn’t matter how good your mechanics are. In case you’re going up there with out a good plan, or with no plan in any respect, [and] you’re simply making an attempt to hit the ball, you’re in bother. We need to hammer down our psychological state and our tactical strategy. ‘Right here is my plan, that is what I’m making an attempt to do, and I’m dedicated to that.’ If we verify all these packing containers, and there’s nonetheless one thing off, then the swing has one thing we most likely want to repair.”
Laurila: Earlier than I allow you to go, I need to ask a couple of switch-hitting shortstop out of Puerto Rico. What are you able to inform me about Edwin Arroyo?
Fransoso: “One other athletic child. He’s uncooked — I feel he may need simply turned 18 in the course of the season — however his talent set is off the charts… Oh man, when you watch him within the discipline, his fingers, how he strikes his physique… it’s superb. And that’s translating over to hitting as nicely. We noticed some struggles early on, by way of swing selections — he was chasing — however that’s regular once you’re beginning out in skilled baseball, particularly coming from the highschool ranks.
“Guys need to make an impression, so that they fear about outcomes. ‘I’ve acquired to get my hits, I need to have batting common.’ That’s absolutely the satan once you come over. You get sucked in. You drift into that headspace of making an attempt to see outcomes, and it’s robust to climb out of that. It’s why we attempt to follow our processes of dominating the zone and controlling issues we will management. However he began to get a deal with on that towards the top of the yr. We noticed his swing selections enhance. Once more, it’s about dominating the zone.”
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Earlier “Talks Hitting” interviews can discovered by way of these hyperlinks: Jeff Albert, Greg Allen, Nolan Arenado, Aaron Bates, Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, JJ Bleday, Bobby Bradley, Jay Bruce, Matt Chapman, Michael Chavis, Jacob Cruz, Nelson Cruz, Paul DeJong, Josh Donaldson, Rick Eckstein, Drew Ferguson, Justin Foscue, Joey Gallo, Devlin Granberg, Andy Haines, Mitch Haniger, Tim Hyers, Josh Jung, Jimmy Kerr, Trevor Larnach, Doug Latta, Evan Longoria, Michael Lorenzen, Gavin Lux, Dave Magadan, Trey Mancini, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly, Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins, Daniel Murphy, Brent Rooker,, Drew Saylor, Fernando Tatis Jr., Justin Turner, Mark Trumbo, Zac Veen, Mark Vientos, Luke Voit, Jordan Westburg, Jesse Winker, Nick Yorke.
