Terry Pendleton on hitting: “That individual has to step up”
Terry Pendleton was hurt when he heard Jeff Francoeur had gone to Texas to work with Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. He told Francoeur as much.
Said Pendleton: “Honestly? My pride gets in the way. I asked Jeff, ‘Why didn’t you come to me?’ Obviously he felt the need to go elsewhere. It’s his winter. [But] it bugged me at first. Not hearing it from him, that got me more than anything. I told him, ‘I thought our relationship was better than that.’ ”
Pendleton has been the Braves’ hitting coach since 2002, and he’s held in high esteem within the organization. But it did seem odd that the conspicuously flailing Francoeur would consult an instructor on another team’s payroll, and some have taken his Texas sojourn as a vote of no confidence in Pendleton.
And with the 2009 Braves starving for offense and the prized prospect Jordan Schafer being demoted after striking out 63 times in 50 games, the cry has gone up on AJC.com blogs: Pendleton must go! (Never mind that the Braves have hit above the National League in each of their seven full seasons under T.P.)
If Bobby Cox has anything to do with it, Pendleton is going nowhere. “Terry is good,” Cox said, emphasizing the adjective. “He’s an endless worker. He works harder than any hitting coach I’ve ever seen.” And Cox has worked alongside some fine ones: Cito Gaston, Clarence Jones, Don Baylor, Merv Rettenmund.
Said Pendleton, told of Cox’s wholehearted endorsement: “I appreciate that. It’s worth a lot.”
Does a hitting coach actually matter? “If I answer that, I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t,” Pendleton said. “I always think there are things I can do better, and I’m always asking the players questions: ‘What do I need to do better?’ Physically, I think I can help a guy prepare. Mentally, you can do a lot of talking, but sometimes that individual has to step up.”
Still, a hitting coach feels it when a pupil fails. Pendleton again: “Chipper [Jones] and I were talking the other night, and I was saying I felt like I let [Schafer] down. You try to do everything you can for these young guys – sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.”
Loading ...It isn’t as if Pendleton doesn’t know how failure feels. He hit .324 as a Cardinal rookie in 1984. But, he said, “I didn’t know how to make adjustments – henceforth .240 and .230 [the next two seasons].”
And how was the same guy able to win the batting title and be named MVP in 1991 as a Brave? “I adjusted.”
Asked if he feels Pendleton is a good hitting coach, Francoeur said: “Absolutely.” So why head for Texas? “Sometimes you’ve got to work something out. Even with Rudy, the final week I was there I was changing something else. Guys do that all the time. Chipper goes to his dad. Mac [Brian McCann] goes to his dad.”
Has his work with Jaramillo damaged his relationship with Pendleton? Francoeur: “We’ve talked about it. We’re working together now. I really can’t say much. It is what it is.”
Pendleton is a pro’s pro. He’ll always work hard to do the job he’s paid to do. “Guys have struggled before,” he said, “and I tried to assist them in getting it right.”
But this is the same Pendleton who walked off the field in Cincinnati in 1993 because he didn’t think Braves pitchers were protecting their hitters. The man does have a code.
And he also has a point: Sometimes a hitter has to step in and step up. A hitting coach can’t take every at-bat for his team. Goodness knows these Braves would be better served if theirs did.
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214 comments Add your comment
JASon
June 4th, 2009
6:48 pm
The hitting coach can only do so much, that’s just the way it works. You just don’t blame the hitting coach for everything, you just don’t do it. And if you insist on blaming him, just look at the stats over the past nine years. Frenchy’s a joke, as we’ve been trying to tell braves management for so long. And Schafer? He was a rookie. He flopped. You can’t pin that on the hitting coach.
Tim
June 4th, 2009
7:00 pm
After reading this and how the Braves did Glavine(and Smoltz during the winter), I wonder who is running that team now. Pretty pathetic. I bet Glavine could pitch better than 3/5 of the current starters,better than 3/4 of the bullpen, and could be 10x the pitching coach (and hitting coach too for that matter) than who the Braves have. Sadly, I see this team returning to the 1970’s and 1980’s.
puff
June 4th, 2009
7:06 pm
Pendleton isn’t to blame for hitters coming through the Braves system without learning the strike zone, without developing discipline. It’s lucky McCann had his dad and Yunel learned the Cuban way – otherwise they might be as erratic as Frenchy, KJ and Schafer. The Braves farm system did not do these guys any offensive favors.
All I'm Saying Is...
June 4th, 2009
7:10 pm
GREAT POST BY BRYAN G.!!! Nice work, dude!
As a reminder for all you idiots trying to throw Pendleton under the bus, the facts for the Braves in the hitting department in terms of team batting average since 2002 are:
YEAR TEAM BA NL RANK
2009 .258 8th
2008 .270 3rd
2007 .275 2nd
2006 .270 2nd
2005 .265 6th
2004 .270 4th
2003 .284 1st
2002 .260 9th
Bobby Cox is not the problem, Frank Wren is not the problem and for goodness sakes Terry Pendleton is not the problem—-the problem is too many free swingers in the line-up (see Francoeur) who are not students of the game. (As John Madden might say) McCann and Jones are good hitters because they are good hitters—-not because they work with their dads but because they are disciplined at the plate, studious when it comes to pitchers, and willing to make adjustments since pitchers adjust.
Roja
June 4th, 2009
7:24 pm
Just as info here are Andruw Jones’ Batting Averages by year and hitting coach as a Brave starting with his first full season:
1997 .231 Clarence Jones
1998 .271 Clarence Jones
1999 .275 Don Baylor
2000 .303 Merv Rettenmund
2001 .251 Merv Rettenmund
2002 .264 Terry Pendleton
2003 .277 Terry Pendleton
2004 .261 Terry Pendleton
2005 .263 Terry Pendleton
2006 .262 Terry Pendleton
2007 .222 Terry Pendleton
Not sure what it says about hitting coaches, but it was interesting to look at. At Texas he’s batting .278 in 26 games.
Roja
June 4th, 2009
7:26 pm
The good thing about returning to the 70’s and 80’s Braves is that the seats were great and plentiful!!! I was there.
Bravos
June 4th, 2009
7:53 pm
What you are failing to incorporate in to your opinion here Mark is that one night the Braves will go off for 10 runs and 18 hits, only to be blanked the next night. We still wait around on the 3 run homer and cannot manufacture runs. As for individual performances, let’s take KJ. KJ was a very patient hitter when he first came up and was praised for his keen sense of the strike zone. Now KJ is a .250, .260 hitter that also swings at the first pitch way too much. From a fundamentals and mental standpoint, TP has failed at his job. He is a terrible hitting coach and the root of our offensive woes. It is a shame that the talents of Francouer, KJ, Schafer, Thorman, etc. have been wasted on a joke of a hitting coach. He may have been an MVP 3B, but he is not a Major League coach.
alcoholic
June 4th, 2009
7:56 pm
i don’t understand where the lack of offense the last few years comments are about. the Braves have had a top 5 offense the past few years. the problem isn’t terry. its francour. the braves have had some great offenses. the problem last year was the pitching. this is a hiccup year. to many questions after mccann in the lineup
freshd
June 4th, 2009
8:02 pm
I noticed last night that Francoeur had gone back to his old batting stance. Earlier in the season his stance was more open on the front side leg, but last night it was closed. I know about his .345 career average swinging at the first pitch, but he was better Tuesday when he was more patient at the plate, and took some pitches.
alsim
June 4th, 2009
8:02 pm
You cannot blame TP if Frenchy doesn’t listen.
.
OldTimer
June 4th, 2009
8:11 pm
91 was TPs steroid year.
BravesHeroZero
June 4th, 2009
8:25 pm
“I have to say, I’m not a Pendleton apologist, but the statistics do not reflect the perception that he is a bad hitting coach. Maybe Frenchy just can’t hit and Schaffer just wasn’t ready???”
Ozzie
June 4th, 2009
8:25 pm
Two words – Situational hitting. Two more – Timely hitting.
TP gets neither from his players. The year end stats look fine but like a bikini they don’t show you everything.
TP has been through plenty of lineups over the years and the results are getting worse not better. When the same coach gets the same or declining results from both new and old faces it is time for a change.
After a 90 loss season where the offense in addition to the pitching wet the bed coaches get fired at least on teams who value winning above status quo.
TP is a great guy and would make a good bench coach but he wasn’t an amazing hitter in his day and he is not what this team needs as a hitting coach.
He was a sentimental hire and he is a sentimental keeper. As we have seen from Wren sentimentality has no place in the Braves org.
If this team misses the playoffs and the offense is the reason TP is fired Oct 1 bet your house on it.
Wren is done with memory lane.
Bobbymahlon
June 4th, 2009
8:39 pm
All this talk about taking pitches down the middle just to take a pitch is not the way to good hitting. To be a good hitter you have got to have good pitch selection and pick the pitch you can handle and hit it where it’s pitched on the sweat spot of the bat. Many good hitters used that approch and did not worry about the technical parts of hitting therefore freeing their minds and being able to relax, something Franceour cannot do at the present time. When Frenchy takes pitches it seems he takes the good ones and than swings at the ones out of the strike zone.
jason
June 4th, 2009
8:41 pm
Apparrently the Texas hiiting coach was unable to help the “Chosen One”, “the NATURAL”. That should say he was overated and that he just SUCKS!!!
BravesHeroZero
June 4th, 2009
8:47 pm
When a batter “pulls-away” from the plate. Breaking-balls break-away from the direction of his swing. When one pulls his swing so hard, and crates a hook in his swing, that he cannot keep his vision on the break of the ball. One looks-up after the swing and miss. A young hitter cnanot guess where the ball will break while swing so hard that looses sight of the ball. There is nothing TP can do, but “un-retire”, and get-out there a hit..
For years, I’ve heard these TBS, ESPN, and Fox analysts say that it is far too late for the major league hitting coach to alter swings.. A player must be able to hit (fundamentals of hitting) several pitches by the time he reaches The MLB.
What about the minor league hitting coaches on the Braves Farm system?
Other than Chipper, the Braves prospects don’t really hit for average.
The Braves draft all-around players with very good defense. Chipper was the only one who was a pure hitter, not just a pull-hitter. The Braves usually have to trade for some other team’s big bat.
jason
June 4th, 2009
8:48 pm
Bobbymahlon, It is called pitch recognition. In Frenchy’s case he has none. It is bad when you can’t distinguish a curve from a fastball. What does it say when you can’t distinguish a strike down the middle from a pitch out?
richbrave
June 4th, 2009
8:49 pm
Most unfortunate to here that TERRY is so highly esteemed by the management, and so poorly viewed by these blogs. The disconnect is huge. I guess the fans are driven by results only not effort given.
bird
June 4th, 2009
9:03 pm
If them sorry boys can’t hit, then they just can’t hit. Lets be honest here man, a hitting coach can only do so much. The Brves just don’t have the type of hitters that they used to. Look at some of the players that left Atlanta and all of a sudden forgot how to hit. Get better talent and the hitting coach will look alot better.
BravesHeroZero
June 4th, 2009
9:03 pm
“Most unfortunate to here that TERRY is so highly esteemed by the management, and so poorly viewed by these blogs. The disconnect is huge. I guess the fans are driven by results only not effort given”
*Terry Pendleton is a winner, a leader, and not a finger-pointer, or one to rely on excuses.*
He was not one of those “sexy” Braves who conviently disappeared on the big stage of The MLB Playoffs. He hit the double that should have given The Braves The 1991 World Series–if it wasn’t for a base-running mistake by another Brave..
Mark Bradley
June 4th, 2009
9:04 pm
Glavine could pitch better than three of these starters? Which three? Lowe, Jurrjens and Vazquez?
Don’t think so.
woodie
June 4th, 2009
9:04 pm
Frenchy is wound too tight at the plate. He seems to have his mind made up he’s going to swing before the ball is pitched. It’s a split second to process and swing or not at the pitch coming to you. He doesn’t have that millisecond decision ability like Chipper or McCann. Guys like Tony Gwynn and Ted Williams just saw pitch and hit pitch. Sometimes the science gets in the way of the simple.
PHIL
June 4th, 2009
9:06 pm
Did anyone happen to read this article? It plainly states that the Braves have hit ABOVE the major league average every year TP has been here. And I dare say that with Andrew “The Human Strike Out” Jones for many of those years, that’s no small task.
One guy admitted that he had never played organized baseball. I suspect that the vast majority would fall into that category if Little League doesn’t count. What people can’t seem to get through their skulls is that players don’t always do what the coach tells them to do, especially professional players. They don’t HAVE to listen, they make much, much more than the coaches. They do what THEY think is best much of the time. Then even if a player is coachable, he then has to execute what the coach teaches on the field. I have yet to see TP swing at the first low outside pitch yet as a coach. Players are the ones who play. They make the big money. They should be held accountable for their actions. It’s like blaming Coach Martinez for the UGA SI cover boy Ellerbe trying to use the belly bump method in tackling. It wasn’t the coach who told him to do that. Or the All SEC,(what a joke) Safety never showing up in the right place, but rather where he decided to be.
Players play, coaches coach. There are a few people involved in professional or D1 coaching that probably don’t do a good job. But it never ceases to amaze me how many people who have never even played a sport and who know how to do it sooooo much better, yet have chosen another profession or maybe no profession at all other than opining on what a poor job someone else is doing.
BravesHeroZero
June 4th, 2009
9:07 pm
Terry Pendleton is a winner, a leader, and not a finger-pointer, or one to rely on excuses.
Plus, his eyes remained on the breaking pitches..
GEORGE ROBERTSON JR
June 4th, 2009
9:07 pm
PENDLETON IS USELESS TO HITTERS WITH PROBLEMS. CHIPPER & MCCANN ARE THE GO TO GUYS ON THE TEAM FOR HITTING ADVICE OR EVEN SOMEBODY OUTSIDE THE ORGANIZATION. THE GUYS NEEDING HELP WOULD BE BETTER OFF GOING TO THEIR HIGH SCHOOL COACH. DUMP HIM.
BravesHeroZero
June 4th, 2009
9:13 pm
If the Braves fire Pendleton over the swings of these players (and the cries of their “personal fan-clubs”), they should fire all of their minor league hitting coaches…
E-mail any MLB analyst.. It is far too late for MLB hitting coaches to alter swings.
Gumby
June 4th, 2009
9:15 pm
Thanks Mark. Good article on TP who I have always thought was a class act, good hitter, good coach, and am glad to have with the Braves.
Larvel Sugar Bear Blanks
June 4th, 2009
9:20 pm
TP’s numbers as a coach are surprisingly good. Ninth year with the team and in the top ten in BA every year. Didn’t realize that. Still, Francouer looks absolutely lost almost every at bat. I suspect, obviously don’t know, that it’s Frenchy’s lack of taking TP’s advice, rather than TP giving bad advice. I mean, he never really tore up minor league ball, and TP was nowhere around.
As for Glav, I loved watching him pitch in the 90’s, best stuff of any lefhander I’ve ever seen. Not overpowering like Big Unit, just great stuff. The folks in Rome told me last night during the Rome-Augusta game that he looked okay on Tuesday night, but A ball okay, not major league okay. Maybe it is just time to move on.
BravesHeroZero
June 4th, 2009
9:22 pm
Personally, I think it is youthful Bravado, ego, and that “Baby-Brave” Love-fest in 2005 that caused all of these problems..
It could be nervous-ness..(too much caffeine probably)
The Braves Legacy is heavy in this state…
The Baby Braves have their own Legacy of growing-up with a near Dynasty at home that they have to re-create. It’s got hurt to struggle so after making such a splash in 2005.
BravesHeroZero
June 4th, 2009
9:28 pm
As far as Glavine is concerned… The Braves just chose Hansen..
He was too hot at Gwinnett to keep-down any longer.. They probably would released Glavine sooner or later this season. Medlin is improving.. They are really shooting for 2010-11 with another loaded staff.
jason
June 4th, 2009
9:32 pm
A MLB hitting coach is like a good Shrink. He will talk to free your mind and relax you. Let you talk. But in the end you still have to solve your own problems.
It is true, a MLB hitter should already know how to hit. Know pitch recognition. The only physical concept of a hitting coach is if he sees a break down in your mechanics. If you do something out of the norm in your swing. He can point that out.
Does Francouer even sit and watch video of his swings? Go back to his rookie year when he was tearing the cover off the ball. Compare it to the past 2+ years and see if he can find the failure in his mechanics. TP or even Chip could help him with this.
Tomas
June 4th, 2009
9:37 pm
Terry Pendelton is good, but Rudy Jaramillo is the best. Look at Andruw Jones.
D. Ellis
June 4th, 2009
9:44 pm
Frenchy just can’t hit that well. Bottom line PERIOD. When he first came up he was getting fed nothing but fastballs. Now he gets fed everything under the sun and out of the zone and won’t lay off of it. FOLKS—- EVEN A BLIND DOG WILL SNIFF IT’S WAY TO A PILE OF POOP EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE. And thats what Frenchy does when he hits a home run. Anyone happen to catch the pitch he hit in the 9th to tie the game….YEEEEEEP Fastball. Dude looks lost at the plate 60-75% of the time he is up there.
Sad thing is if we traded him (Befroe the Mclouth) deal we would have been gettting rid of our most productive OF…..who in the grand scheme of things couldn’t hit sand if he fell off a camel.
jason
June 4th, 2009
9:49 pm
Tony Gwynn was one of the pioneers of watching video of his swing. Always working to get better. Does Francouer even have a work ethic?
Mark Bradley
June 4th, 2009
9:49 pm
Thanks, Gumby.
I don’t know if Terry Pendleton is a great hitting coach. I’m not a big-league hitter. But I do know he’s a smart and dedicated man.
No More Bobby
June 4th, 2009
10:03 pm
Screw your pride Terry Pendleton!!! You suck as a hitting coach and if you take over this team when Bobby (if) walks away, Im picking a new team to follow.
cvbraves
June 4th, 2009
10:11 pm
I believe TP does a very good job as hitting coach. Amdruw and Jeff just got into the bad habit of trying to swing hard rather than quick…and trying to pull everything to hit home runs. That’s what really happened to those two.
I believe TP tried to help both of them best he could…but he can only suggest and teach, Andruw and Jeff are responsible for what they do once they are in the game. They are homer happy, although it appears Andruw may be seeing the light.
RHR
June 4th, 2009
10:12 pm
Good stuff, Mark.I applaud you for coming right out and asking the parties involved for their thoughts on it. I agree, it’s NOT THE COACH. Francoeur is a head case and that’s not TP’s fault. Every time he opens his mouth I like him a little less than I did before, which wasn’t much. “Chipper goes to his dad and Mac goes to his dad. It is what it is.” I mean…are you kidding me Jeff? Ugh.
big dawg
June 4th, 2009
10:26 pm
i’ll say he is a good hitting coach as soon as he gets schafer to be a otis nixon type hitter with his speed. and get frenchy to do alot of things differently. like, stop swinging at everything(especially the high pitch), shorten his swing( he has the longest and slowest swing in baseball, evidence of this is just how many times he pops out,to the infield),then get him to hold the bat in his fingers, not giving it the death grip in the palm of his hands. he would be a damn good softball hitter though..
back to schafer, his first move was a lil hitch backwards before he starts his swing.hence,always late on the fast ball.
fix just these two guys, then you’ll be a good hitting coach.
Johnny
June 4th, 2009
10:29 pm
How many couch coaches do we have here? Professional hitters? Let the man coach and you be fans…. watch and enjoy a GAME, that none of you are getting paid to play or coach
dizzle
June 4th, 2009
10:30 pm
many thanks for all of the past years of performance but all Braves fans should be happy…. we are no longer being held hostage by yesteryear! Words cant express the appreciation that we all have for Smoltz and Glavine but how many contenders have a top notch rotation with the top two over 40 years of age? Time to move on folks…it happens
JD
June 4th, 2009
10:31 pm
Hey Mark – I meant to say it earlier, but thanks a lot for putting this up. Whether it’s merited or not, there’s been a lot of complaints about Bobby, TP, and co. But it seems like the Atlanta sportswriters are completely ignoring the topic. Kudos my friend.
NYCBrave
June 4th, 2009
10:32 pm
Say what you want about the role of hitting coaches and the quality of TP as one, but the bottom line is that, as TP says, “That individual has to step up.”
JD
June 4th, 2009
10:37 pm
I’m seeing a lot of people note that it’s not Pendleton’s fault, it’s Francoeur’s or Schafer’s or whoever’s fault because they don’t listen and they’re free swingers. Maybe they are.
But what I want to know is what do Bobby or TP say or do when Francoeur swings at a ridiculously high or away first pitch? Arizona’s manager (I think it was Arizona) benched one of his starters for swinging at a first pitch the other day. Coaches aren’t supposed to be your buddy all the time. Coaches are supposed to step on your toes. Fire you up. Let you know when you do something stupid. I just don’t see that at all from this coaching staff. All I see is TP throwing back more sunflower seeds.
Boiler
June 4th, 2009
10:41 pm
The new center fielder should help this line up. I always hear announcers say you can’t give a MLB team an extra out when someone makes an error. Well the reverse is also true. You can’t score runs with three easy outs in the line up like Schafer/Francour/Pitcher. Now we just have two…and only one when JJ pitches!
AJC
June 4th, 2009
10:46 pm
No More Bobby,
Pendleton (Hank Aaron has spoken) might actually be a decent manager…But his success, like most managers will depend on the players that he’s able to attain & keep for several seasons…You give Lum Harris, Dave Bristol & Russ Nixon 3 HOF starting pitchers (Maddux, Glavine & Smoltz) for 10 years like Bobby Cox had, and voila, they’re HOF managers too, probably/maybe.
Bobby has failed miserably as a manager in the postseason, when the competition was more on a level playing field. Yet, he’s revered by many for simply being the beneficiary of this incredible talent…What we’ve seen the last 3 seasons in the Braves, is just an average run-of-the-mill manager, because he’s no longer afforded all of the elite players he once had.
I hope Pendleton will be a better manager than Cox, because the days of competing with the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox & Mets for players, are apparently over. So Pendleton will have his work cut out.
Horner's Corner
June 4th, 2009
10:51 pm
Mike (5:32 post)- “Couldn’t fix Andruw, Jaramillo did. Won’t fix Kelly or anyone else either.”
These guys aren’t used cars and Terry P. isn’t a mechanic. You cannot just turn a screw and “fix” them. TP can point things out and make suggestions, but the player has to perform. Fans such as yourself buy into all the hype created by the Braves marketing machine and when a guy doesn’t pan out (usually do to lack of ability, not poor coaching)you always want to blame someone. Bottom line, Jeff should have signed with Clemson and not the Braves.
Farsider
June 4th, 2009
10:58 pm
Let’s see, whose side do we take? A seasoned pro and former MVP, or a prima donna, world-class head case? Questionable character aside, Francoeur does not know how to handle adversity or make to necessary adjustments to be a consistent big-league hitter. Free Jason Heyward!
Pendleton Upset « Atlanta Braves Banter
June 4th, 2009
10:58 pm
[...] By Mike Montgomery Mark Bradley reports that Terry Pendleton was a little upset that Frenchy went to Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo [...]
BravesfanforLife
June 4th, 2009
11:02 pm
While the argument can be made that TP is a good HC, I just think that the entire organization would be better off with a entirely new coaching staff next season. Bring in coaches that are a little more hungry for success and that will shake things up a bit more..
Cox has lost his luster as far as taking chances goes. This is clearly not the same kind of Braves team that we saw win 14 consecutive division titles.. It would be nice to have a manager that would take risks during a game and make decisions that will be best for the team (EX: Don’t pitch Jeff Bennett in consecutive innings in the same game, especially when he got lucky enough not to give up any runs in the first inning he pitched)
Our pitching staff hasn’t been the same since Mazzone left and McDowell came in, Cox is not the same, and TP is a push.. I wouldn’t mind seeing a whole new staff next season.. The only ones that I would keep would be Hubbard and Perez..