Grandal has son to thank for walk-off HR, recent surge

PITTSBURGH – Yasmani Grandal has been swinging one of the hottest bats on the Pirates over the last month or so, something he credits to getting hitting advice from a new source: His son, Rhyatt.

“My 3-year-old keeps telling me to hit homers,” Grandal said. “Every time he’s said that I’ve hit a homer, so he needs to keep telling me the same thing over and over.”

It’s sound advice, and Grandal is heeding it. He’s gone deep in three of his last five games, including Sunday afternoon at PNC Park, where he played the hero and launched a two-run shot off of Reds closer Alexis Díaz to propel the Pirates to a 4-3 win.

The Pirates held a lead for most of the afternoon behind six shutout innings from Luis Ortiz, but Kyle Nicolas and Jalen Beeks struggled in the seventh and the Reds were able to take a 3-2 advantage. Bryan De La Cruz was plunked with one out in the bottom of the ninth to get a man on base, when Grandal barreled up a 1-2 Díaz fastball that cleared the 21-foot wall in right.

That homer was Grandal’s only hit of the day, but it’s hardly been his only hit of late. After a slow start to the season, the 13-year vet has been swinging a hot bat for the last month and a half, slashing .279/.338/.590 with five home runs.

Some of that is a credit to having his midseason legs under him. After signing just before camp started in February, he missed almost all of Spring Training due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot. By the time he could play again, the regular season had started to ramp up.

“Trying to make adjustments in the big leagues is really hard,” Grandal said. “Luckily, for me, understanding how my body was moving, making the adjustment I need to make in order to start producing and start helping these guys out, it was all a matter of understanding where exactly I needed to do damage in [the zone] and what I needed to let go.”

It’s a tall task to pull off changes like that midseason, and with the game – and perhaps the season – on the line, it was as big a spot as Grandal has been in at the plate this season. But as manager Derek Shelton put it, “I think that’s why you have veteran guys in your clubhouse.”

“I know at times he struggled offensively and he’s a little bit older, but he’s smart,” Shelton said. “If you Baseball Reference this guy and look at his offensive numbers through the course of his career, he’s been an elite hitter. It’s one of those things where you may fool him once with a pitch, but very rarely do you fool him twice when he’s looking for it.”

Grandal swinging a hot bat may be even more important now, since Joey Bart exited in the first inning Sunday with left hamstring discomfort while trying to beat out a ground ball. Bart has been the team’s primary catcher this year, but has also served as the designated hitter more since he’s been one of the club’s top offensive producers.

Moving forward without Bart would be tough, but the Pirates are on the mend right now, with Jared Jones’ next start coming with the big club and Nick Gonzales, Colin Holderman and Carmen Mlodzinski all on rehab assignments. The remaining schedule is also a lot less daunting as it was the last month out of the All-Star break.

The odds are against them, but as a jersey-less Grandal said to the PNC Park faithful while doing his on-field interview with SportsNet Pittsburgh’s Hannah Mears postgame, the team has to keep fighting, and they have got to believe that they’ll come through.

“We still have September, and I’ve seen a lot of things happen in September,” Grandal said. “I can look back to maybe 2017, 2016, maybe ’15 when in L.A. we were down by maybe five games in August and we ended up winning the division. You’ve just got to keep believing.”