By Tim Benz
May 31, 2019
(Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review)
Across the parking lot from PNC Park, after a preseason game in August, you’ll probably hear Steelers coach Mike Tomlin say something about James Washington, Jaylen Samuels or Chuks Okorafor “being on the rise from Year 1 to Year 2” of their NFL careers.
Tomlin is big on that one. That’s a staple NFL coaching cliché. An easy one to pull out of the bag when a second-year player makes strides after looking lost as a rookie.
That’s an easy concept to apply in football. You get drafted. Make the team. Feel your way through your first campaign. Come back in Year 2. And contribute more. In the NFL, you have no minor league shuttle to ride. No threat of demotion.
Baseball’s a little less streamlined. Because if you struggled as a rookie, you could still find yourself bouncing up and down between the majors and minors until you figure things out in your sophomore season. Still earning that second look on a full-time basis.
Pirates infielder Kevin Newman has played this whole year looking like he’s on an NFL progression in a baseball uniform.
Whether he buys the analogy or not.
“I’m not comfortable,” Newman said Friday. “I’m not sitting here saying, ’I’m here for the rest of the year.’ That’s not the mentality I have.”
However, with a .338 batting average, a .398 on-base percentage and an .871 OPS, Newman sure looks comfortable at the plate.
With the glove, that three-error disaster in the sixth inning at Wrigley Field on April 9 aside, he also has looked plenty comfortable. Totally clean.
Those numbers are a far cry from the ones the former first-round pick posted after getting elevated to MLB on Aug. 16 last season.
Newman hit only .209 with a .247 on-base percentage. Yet the organization gave him a chance to travel with the big club out of spring training this season.
In fact, the only time Newman spent in the minors this year was on a rehab assignment after cutting his finger moving the pitching machine.
Newman’s stint to begin 2019 in the big leagues was anything but assured. Cole Tucker had yet to be called up. Erick Gonzales began the year as the starter at shortstop before getting hurt. Adam Frazier was at second. And the Colin Moran-Jung Ho Kang combination was penciled in at third base.
All Newman has done is bounce among every position — including two appearances in the outfield — and delivered at a surprisingly effective clip.
Newman attributes his bright spots this year less to that of a been there-done that confidence carrying over from his ineffective call up in 2018 and more to that of knowing that a little success in his second trip could be buying himself some leeway.
“How this year has gone has helped my confidence,” Newman said. “How I feel after I get out, it’s not, ‘Shoot, do I have to worry about going down (to the minors)?’ If you think that way, it can creep more into your mind.”
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle allows that mental fortitude may be a component in Newman’s bounce back from the end of 2018. But he looks more toward the utilityman’s physical development than what is between his ears.
“He got strong,” Hurdle said. “He was just out of gas last year. Getting strong, having rest, that helped as much as anything.”
After playing all season in the minors before his recall, Newman was said to have arrived in Pittsburgh 15 pounds underweight.
“Now, the game speed, acclimation, and reps added it to it,” Hurdle said. “It’s probably a little bit of both (physical and mental). He’s playing with some confidence. He’s fielding with some confidence. His development has been fun to watch.”
The Pirates have enough faith in Newman now that they are trying him in the leadoff spot. He went 1 for 5 there in Thursday’s 11-5 loss to the Brewers.
To go back to the football analogy, if you’re a first-round pick and your first exposure on the big stage goes like Newman’s went, you get labeled a bust fast, and you get no help changing minds.
If you don’t make that jump in Year 2, it may never happen.
Newman’s 2019 season is giving us reason to think he’s ready to take that leap.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@tribweb.com or viaTwitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
Categories: Sports | Pirates | Tim Benz Breakfast With
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