By STEVE KRAH
See It Big, Cut It In Half.
That phrase is on hitting coach Quentin Brown’s Twitter page.
What does it mean?
“It’s about being aggressive,” says Brown. “Squaring the baseball up. That’s what it’s all about. See it big and hit it right through the middle of the field. I’ve worked with a lot of guys about mechanics and whatnot but my whole goal is to create good hitters.
“It’s about being good in-game hitters vs. good cage-hitters.”
Brown, 36, has been imparting his wisdom about hitting the baseball at the professional level for the past two seasons in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
A graduate of Western High School (2005) in Russiaville, Ind. (near Kokomo), and Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne (2010), where he played four years, Brown coached travel ball for the Indiana Pony Express, Indiana Cage Rats, Fort Wayne Cubs (now Fort Wayne Diamondbacks) and Indiana Primetime Baseball and coached at Western from 2014-16 (the Brown-led Panthers were 2016 IHSAA Class 3A state runners-up) and served as an instructor at what is now Mojo Up Fieldhouse in Noblesville, Ind.
In 2022, he joined the Pirates as a hitting coach. He was with the rookie-level Florida Complex League team the first year and the low Class-A Florida State League’s Bradenton (Fla.) Marauders in 2023. He expects to learn his 2024 assignment by late November.
“We want guys to put the right swing on the ball and use the middle of the field correctly,” says Brown. “When the ball is on the outer half (as a right-handed batter) and I hit the ball to right-center that is still taking the ball through the middle of the field.
“When we see guys get out of that approach is when the ball’s on the outer half and they hit a ball to the shortstop or the third baseman. Now we’re not using the middle of the field. We’re getting around the baseball. The ball’s on the inner half and the guys hitting it foul. That’s not using the middle of the field.
“Using the middle of the field is about keeping good direction. Then if the pitch is away, down or up — whatever — it gives us the best chance for adjustment.”
It’s not a cookie-cutter approach.
“Every hitter’s different,” says Brown. “It’s the coach’s job to find what are that player’s strengths.”
Coach Q sees many players come to him that were taught to try to hit every pitch to the opposite field.
“It’s ‘hit the ball oppo!,’ and then two weeks into pro ball they realize that approach doesn’t work because (pro pitchers) have better stuff and better command.
“It’s about working back toward the middle where I know I can do damage on that pitch. That’s what it’s all about. What are the best zones and areas for me to do damage?”
The 2023 Marauders — with Brown as Hitting Coach, former hitting coach Jonathan Johnston at Manager, Casey Harms as Integrated Baseball Performance Coach, Gustavo Omana as Development Coach Gustavo Omana plus Matt Ford as Pitching Coach — set some franchise records, including home runs (117), walks (783) and stolen bases (222).
Bradenton led the FSL with a .365 team on-base percentage Jesus Castillo drew 102 free passes.
“It was definitely a collective effort,” says Brown. “To have success, you have to have good players and we had a bunch of good players. I’m just glad they took ahold of the philosophy and we had success with it.
“Our whole goal and mindset was about winning every pitch,” said Brown. “We call it the Pitch War. It’s about owning the (strike) zone. If we strike out on the edge it’s OK, but we’re not chasing outside the zone.
“We’re not swinging a ton. When we do it’s impactful.”
A typical gameday with Bradenton during a home series had Brown getting to LECOM Park at 11:30 a.m. to noon where he began game planning and sending information to players about that day’s starting pitcher and potential relievers. That was followed by team and individual defensive work and batting practice (on the field on Tuesdays and often in the cage on other days), a pregame meal, team meeting, down time and then 6:30 p.m. first pitch.
Minor League Baseball has a pitch clock and Brown has embraced it.
“I like it because it keeps (hitters) locked in,” says Brown. “It makes guys turn the page quicker (from the result of the pitch). You have about 14 seconds to get ready. The next pitch is coming.”
The Marauders had very few violations during a season in which the team played 130 games.
“We harped on it a lot and made sure guys were ready,” says Brown. “A lot of that starts with preparation in the dugout. If you’re in the hole, you’re standing next to me and we’re talking about what the plan of attack is, the situation coming up and understanding what the (pitcher’s) process is.”
The first off-season instructional camp for the Pirates was to begin today (Oct. 16).
“My heart’s still in Indiana but for the job I’m down here,” says Brown, who spends most of his off-season in Florida and plans to visit family and friends in Indiana in November and December with a little time instructing hitters at Mojo Up. Matt Nicholson is Indiana Primetime Baseball director and Jacob Douglass (Western Class of 2016) a highs school travel coach as well as a performance specialist for PRP Baseball (also housed at Mojo Up).
Brown says the amount of teaching for high schoolers and pros is the same.
“It’s more of teaching fundamentals at a higher level (for pros),” says Brown. “The fundamentals never stop. The expectation is greater. The biggest difference is the talent you’re working with.
“In high school, we are trying to get (players) the skill sets to throw harder, run faster and hit the ball harder, be more stable in their swings — all this type of stuff — in pro ball you have those skill sets. You have guys who throw the ball really hard, have fantastic gloves and guys with big-time power.
“Now you try to teach them how to harness all those things consistently (over a much longer season).
“Situations are amplified times 100. It’s a big adjustment.”
With higher skill and more games, where is more time to focus on the finer points.
Brown and his hitters can talk about what sink and ride is or a running fastball, 12-to-6 breaker or sweeper.
“In high school a lot of time talent’s going to beat you,” says Brown. “In pro ball, everybody’s got talent. There’s not a team that’s not talented. Day and day out we’re seeing 93 to 100 (mph).”
It’s often been said that baseball is a game of failure. But some players don’t experience much of that as an amateur and see it for the first time as a pro.
“A lot of guys come into pro ball that have never had a bad day in their life,” says Brown. “All of a sudden they go into a 1-for-15 streak and they don’t know how to handle that. It’s definitely an adjustment.”
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