How Suwinski is preparing for sophomore encore

BRADENTON, Fla. -- As far as young players in Pittsburgh go, no one comes closer to garnering more attention than the Statcast wunderkind that is Oneil Cruz. To Bryan Reynolds, there’s another young position player who’s worthy of generating headlines: Jack Suwinski.

“I don’t think he gets talked about enough,” Reynolds said. “The guy hit 20 homers in 300 at-bats last year. I feel like he has to get more talked about.”

To be specific, Suwinski had 19 home runs, tied for the most among National League rookies, across 326 at-bats, but Reynolds’s point remains valid nonetheless. Suwinski got people on the Twittersphere talking on Saturday when he showcased his new batting stance during Mitch Keller’s live bullpen.

Compared to last season, Suwinski’s stance is noticeably more upright and subtly more open. For Suwinski, the goal of these changes is to “get more square,” allowing him to ride out breaking balls while handling pitches at the top of the strike zone, an area that Suwinski struggled to cover last year.

“It’s a position change to be a little more simple and stay taller,” Suwinski said. “I’m a guy who wants to get in his legs and get lower to the ground and put my nose in the strike zone. So, this is just kind of a way with the progression we’ve been working on to stay a little taller on my backside, keep my head above the ball and work top-to-bottom instead of bottom-to-top for adjustment reasons.

“I’d rather be prepared and looking for a fastball up so I can make that adjustment down, but if the first part of my swing is down, I’m not going to be able to go back up.”

Suwinski made the changes during the offseason while working out back home in Chicago. During his early batting practice sessions, Suwinski would swing “as natural as possible.” After observing data and watching film, Suwinski and his group made the requisite alterations.

Hitting coach Andy Haines added, “He’s pretty relentless in his pursuit of being the best version of himself.”

Suwinski’s pursuit of being the best version of himself will have far fewer twists and turns compared to the Phantom’s Revenge-esque emotional rollercoaster that was last season.

Suwinski began the season with Altoona and was on his way to earning a promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis, but when Reynolds and Cole Tucker hit the COVID-19 injured list, Suwinski and Tucupita Marcano made the drive from Akron to Pittsburgh. Suwinski found out he’d been promoted around 2 p.m. By 6:35 p.m., he was a Major Leaguer.

Suwinski’s first scene in the Majors had the feel of a cameo, not a featured role. The Pirates promoted Suwinski out of necessity, and when Marcano was optioned after just one game, Suwinski appeared to be headed back down as well. But Suwinski not only remained with the team and began hitting his way into the lineup, but was directing some of the team’s biggest blockbusters.

On June 4, Suwinski grinded through a nine-pitch plate appearance against All-Star closer Mark Melancon to deliver a walk-off, two-run home run. Two weeks later, Suwinski, with his dad in the stands, delivered one heck of a Father’s Day gift with a trifecta of homers, the last of which being a walk-off. He finished June with a .915 OPS. The National League had a stacked rookie class, but Suwinski had thrown his hat in the ring.

Then, July. Suwinski struggled and struggled hard. In 14 games, Suwinski hit .108/.250/.243. The Pirates optioned Suwinski to Indianapolis -- the stop he skipped on his way to the Majors. Suwinski was recalled in late August and he remained with the team the rest of the way, hitting .212/.320/.375 with a 99 wRC+ across 122 plate appearances.

For all the peaks and nadirs, Suwinski ended up with 19 homers, 1.8 fWAR and a 100 wRC+, a fine rookie season. Suwinski also posted promising underlying metrics: 71st percentile in Outs Above Average, 74th percentile in Arm Strength, 84th percentile in Sprint Speed, 85th percentile in Max Exit Velocity, 86th percentile in Barrel%.

Suwinski could very well be one of several young Pirates to take a step forward in ’23. Should he do so, Reynolds’ desire for Suwinski to get more attention will surely be satisfied.