The San Diego Padres have some new people in key upper level positions, and the list starts with rookie manager Craig Stammen. But Stammen isn’t the only one—new hitting coach Steve Sousa Jr. is tasked with restoring the team’s power numbers, and that’s not going to be an easy job at all.
The good news is that that Sousa inherits an offense headed by by outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr., third baseman Manny Machado and center fielder Jackson Merrill, so that’s a pretty good start in the power department, as AJ Cassavell of MLB.com points out.
But somehow the Padres wound up 28th in the majors in home runs and 22nd in slugging percentage, so there was a steep power drop-off after Tatis, Machado and Merrill. The 36-year old Souza is just 36, and he’s a former big-league oufielder, so he’s close enough to his playing career to have a modern understanding of this particular problem.
Souza spoke to the media for the first time this week as the Padres reported to camp, and his initial statements indicated that he’s not willing to sacrifice the power potential of a compromised lineup just yet.
“You’re only as good as the players you have and, I think, the culture you create,” Souza said. “There’s a lot of really good players in this offense that do a really good job of a lot of different things, have had some Hall of Fame careers and some MVP-type years. I think having that foundation is good.
“What I am going to try and bring is controlling the zone, hammering mistakes, being able to make the pitcher do something different out there. Because when these guys put the ball on the barrel, it’s hit hard and goes a long way, typically.”
That’s true for his top three power hitters, but it’s not going to fly, literally, with lesser hitters like new infielder Sung-Mun Song, catcher Freddy Fermin, and second baseman Jake Cronenworth, assuming Cronenworth is around to start the season. You could say the same about shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who wasn’t much of a power threat even when he was a star. There’s a lot of warning-track power in that list, but Souza doesn’t see it that way.
“We obviously have the ability to slug,” Souza said. “There’s no doubt about that. You look at the roster, there’s power up and down the lineup.”
It’s hard to see what he’s talking about, but it’s Souza’s job to be optimistic. He boiled his approach down to one key element, but it’s not an uncommon philosophy.
“Controlling the zone is a big part of that,” Souza said, “picking the pitches that we want to do damage on.”
Souza and Stammen didn’t talk about the elephant in the corner of the room—the dimensions at cavernous Petco Park, which is where long fly balls go to die. Stammen talked about Souza’s ability to communicate, but it’s hard to see how this is going to work when the season starts.
There’s a reason the Padres have built their lineup around making contact, keeping the line moving and playing situational baseball, and the basic parameters behind that aren’t going to change just because San Diego has a new hitting coach.