Hitting coach Chris Valaika key to Guardians improvement at plate

Here are a few numbers no one would have predicted when spring training in Arizona and Florida began in March:

The Cleveland Guardians are eighth in the majors with a team batting average of .246 – the same batting average of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They have struck out the fewest times — 274. They are 15th among MLB’s 30 teams with 171 runs scored.

Because of rainouts and one game postponed because of COVID-19, the Guardians have played fewer games than any other team — 37 heading into their game with the Astros in Houston on May 23.

Chris Valaika, in his first season as the team’s hitting coach, is a key reason the Guardians are more successful at the plate than most prognosticators expected them to be.

Valaika, 36, the Cubs’ assistant hitting coach in 2021, was the Cubs’ minor league hitting instructor in 2019-20.

“Coming out of spring training and getting the buy-in, we had to be different from day one,” Valaika said May 20. “I think we’ve shown that — controlling the zone, hitting the ball the other way, taking pride and doing a lot of little things the right way.

“We need to continue to preach that message as you go through the season because you can get away from it a little bit. I think we’ve seen that a little bit of late. So just trying to get us back to who we are.”

Skeptics could argue the Guardians have struck out the fewest times of any team because they have played the fewest games. But that also means they had fewer games to score runs, yet still rank in the top half of the Majors in that vital category.

The Guardians concluded they needed a fresh approach and a younger face to guide the hitters after finishing 80-82 last season. Ty Van Burkleo, the team’s hitting coach from 2013-21, was not retained after last season. Van Burkeo, 57, was the longest-tenured active hitting coach in MLB before the Guardians decided it was time for a change.

So exactly how does a hitting coach help a batter through a slump? Does he approach the hitter or does he wait for Mr. Slump to go to him? Valaika said both things happen.

A coach specializing in one aspect of a game is like a doctor. He has to build up trust in his patient. That relationship makes it easier for the hitter to approach Valaika because he knows Valaika is in his corner.

“We always talk to each other,” Guardians outfielder Oscar Mercado said. “He’s really good at communicating. He does a great job of dissecting pitchers and dissecting approaches for different guys.

“He’s younger. He finished playing not long ago (2015), so he understands what it’s like. He’s very intelligent. He picks up certain things. It’s not that one guy does it the right way and the other does it the wrong way. Chris is just really good at communicating certain messages. I’ve had nothing but good experiences with him.”

The Guardians hired Valaika in November. The lockout that delayed the start of spring training began Dec. 2. That meant Valaika was prohibited from speaking to players until he met them for the first time in Goodyear, Ariz.

“Not being able to talk to them, I’m still continuing to learn as I go with them,” Valaika said. “We’re seeing what these guys are made of, going through their struggles, how they come out of it, that’s been the fun part. You learn a ton from failure.

“Getting to see how these guys tick and getting under the hood a little bit with them, we’re gonna get back to who we are. Just continuing to deliver that same message day in and day out.”

Technology allows Valaika to show his struggling hitters video of what they were doing properly and a bad habit they might have developed at the same time. He said he wants to solve an issue before it “festers,” like a driver responding to his “check engine” light before serious damage caused by neglect makes the problem beyond repair.

“You kind of do both,” Valaika said. “Trying to do some split-screen stuff. Let them see what they see in those videos or what they’re feeling to try to understand.

“We have so much other information that we can kind of paint the picture already in our head, but I think to get buy-in, they need to be the one driving the ship with that stuff. So let them talk more than anything.”

A huge part of Valaika’s job is studying pitchers the Guardians are going to face and then delivering them a scouting report.

“That’s the most important thing,” Mercado said. “You have to develop an approach for pitchers. You have to know what they throw. He’s really good at breaking them down and communicating what those guys like to do and probably how they’re going to attack us so we can go up there with a certain plan.”

The Guardians begin a three-game series with the Astros on May 23 in Houston. Right-hander Luis Garcia (3-2, 3.35 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Astros. Triston McKenzie (2-3, 2.97 ERA) will start for the  Guardians.