New batting practice approach helps Tides turn imaginary runs into real ones

In an Aug. 5 game against Nashville, Gunnar Henderson led off the bottom of the first inning for the Norfolk Tides with a double to right field.

The Tides didn’t get another hit in the inning, but they did score. And few things could’ve made their manager happier.

For ages, batting practice has been a time to tweak swings, marvel at especially long home runs, shag flies and wile away hot summer afternoons catching up with teammates. First-year Tides manager Buck Britton, after a glimpse at his team from a new perspective, recently shifted the focus of BP to something more utilitarian.

For several weeks, the Tides have taken situational rounds of BP designed to ingrain the idea of making productive outs. Before a given round, hitting coach Tim Gibbons might call out, “Man on second, nobody out!” or, “Runner on third, no outs!” and then watch as the hitter in the cage attempts to advance his imaginary teammate.

In the former scenario, the idea is to hit the ball to the right side and get the runner to third. In the latter, a fly ball is in order to score the run.

That night against Nashville, life imitated BP. Jordan Westburg followed Henderson with a flyout to center that got Henderson to third. Kyle Stowers then hit a fly ball deep enough to score Henderson.

All three players returned to the dugout to a hero’s welcome.

“That’s just good, clean baseball,” Gibbons said. “We were just kind of finding a way. If we’re not slugging and hitting our doubles and homers, we’ve still got to find a way to score. So we have to be proficient in doing the job when the job calls for it.”

The idea came to Britton, whose team returns to Harbor Park on Tuesday to open a six-game series against Durham, during what used to be a baseball impossibility. Last season, the parent Baltimore Orioles began allowing minor league staffers three extra days off during the season.

Britton attached his three days to last month’s All-Star break, giving him a full week at his Florida home. While there, he watched the Tides play online and realized they weren’t making productive outs when situations called for them.

The BP alteration was partly because Norfolk had been scuffling offensively — the Tides hit .225 in July, the lowest mark in Triple-A. But it also had to do with how the Orioles were playing.

Baltimore, by then, was rising into contention for a wild-card spot. The O’s have continued; entering Saturday, they were 59-53.

That changes things for promoted players in an organization that hasn’t contended for years.

“When guys go up there, I think the expectation is that they’re up there to help them win games now,” Britton said. “There aren’t going to be any free passes. It’s not to go up there and just get a look. You’re going to have to perform, and you’re going to have to produce. So we’re trying to focus on the things that are going to help them up there when these guys get their opportunity.”

It’s not the only way BP is different from its old form. The Tides, like most teams, often use a pitching machine for more velocity than a coach’s arm can generate, and they’ve faced breaking balls in BP for the past couple of seasons.

But it’s the situational stuff that builds baseball acumen. Gone are the days of empty swings.

“I like doing it because you don’t really get many game-like situations unless you’re in the game,” said Henderson, a 21-year-old infielder who this week was named by Baseball America the top prospect in the game. “So if you can create that atmosphere in BP, it helps you more than it’ll hurt you.”

Westburg, a 23-year-old fellow infielder who arrived with Henderson from Double-A Bowie in early June, agreed.

The Tides entered the weekend hitting .238 as a team this season, which was higher than only one other Triple-A team. But they were batting .249 with runners in scoring position, perhaps a sign that driving in those fake afternoon runners is paying off.

“It’s super beneficial,” Westburg said. “The more you can try to replicate the game, the slower the game is when it comes time to execute.

“We’re not a club that’s necessarily going to outscore the best teams in the league, so when we do have situations with runners in scoring position or times where we can capitalize as an offense and move the ball, I think it’s important to do so.”

The situations are quantified during games and, on occasion, during BP. Using a TrackMan device, which precisely measures everything from exit velocity and launch angle to foot speed and spin rate, Gibbons can get comprehensive feedback as to how often a given player successfully moves a runner — real or imagined.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” the data-loving Gibbons said. “So we try to keep track of anything that we’re emphasizing. We’re going to have numbers to put behind it so we can see where we’re at so we can manage it.”

Taken in their entirety, the changes to BP reflect an ever-evolving game that’s grown increasingly dependent upon analytics. The Tides are simply generating and applying the numbers practically.

Britton, whose professional playing career lasted from 2008-17 and included parts of four seasons in Norfolk, embraces the change.

“These guys are getting looks at spin and stuff,” he said. “Obviously, it’s hard to replicate the 95-mph heater with 20 inches of hop, right?

“It’s just putting a little more focus, as opposed to just going up there and aimlessly swinging, getting your five, six swings and walking out.”

It’s why Henderson, Westburg and Stowers were feted in the dugout after a seemingly innocuous sequence, part of an eventual 7-2 victory that snapped a five-game losing streak.

Not all outs are created equal.

“Since we’ve been emphasizing it in BP, the guys are taking notice of when those situations come up and are really showing guys love if they do the job in those situations, even if it leads to an out,” Gibbons said.

“You took an 0 for 1, but now all of a sudden, you helped your team win. So we’re going to recognize that and show guys love for doing the job when the job calls for it.”

David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com