Tom Wilson On: Edwar Gonzalez

In the 11th part of our 13-part series with hitting coach Tom Wilson, I asked how big of an adjustment outfielder Edwar Gonzalez had to make from facing pitchers in High-A to facing pitchers in Double-A…

“It is a big adjustment, because I think in the Florida State League, they typically have a lot of young guys who throw hard.  Their breaking balls are average, they don’t always throw them for strikes and their secondary pitches, they don’t mix them over the plate as much as they do here and in Triple-A.  In 2-0 counts, you might not see a four-seam fastball at 90 miles per hour right down the middle.  You might see a sinker, a cutter or even a breaking ball from some guys.  I think a lot of our guys who were here last year saw that from our pitching staff, that’s the way we pitched.  So that’s the biggest difference.” 

“Edwar’s as strong as you can be, and his focus is to slow down a little bit and stay in right center field.  We want to keep him on the offspeed pitches.  Guys have a tendency to want to go get the ball instead of letting the ball come to them.  He has his good days, and he’s had his bad days.  Right now, he’s having more good days than bad days and his batting average is showing that.  He’s made some progress.  I had him all spring training for the last two years, and I really like where he’s at right now.  It’s just a matter of being consistent with that approach every day, and if he can do that, he’s going to have success.”

Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com