Seattle’s Chone Figgins seeks advice from his old hitting coach
Seattle infielder Chone Figgins, mired in one of the worst slumps of his career, turned to a familiar face for help Sunday morning when he sought out Angels hitting coach Mickey Hatcher.
“Actually, we talked yesterday too,” Figgins said. “And in spring training. Any time I see him, I’m going to talk to him.”
Hatcher was in the middle of his daily exercise routine Sunday morning, walking around the field at Safeco Park, when Figgins stopped him in shallow right field. Soon Hatcher was pantomiming a swing for his former student, who had never known another big league hitting coach before signing with the Mariners as a free agent last winter.
“We really didn’t talk mechanics. I just said, ‘I love that you keep doing your programs.’ Don’t get caught up with what everybody else is doing,” said Hatcher, who characterized the discussion as a pep talk.
Figgins batted .291 in eight seasons with Hatcher and the Angels. But after going 0 for 4 Sunday, he is hitting just .185 in 31 games with Seattle, which fired its hitting coach, Alan Cockrell, on Sunday and promoted minor league instructor Alonzo Powell to take his place.
Hatcher said he urged Figgins to practice hitting off a tee, as he did with the Angels. Often the best thing a struggling hitter can do is go off to the batting tunnel alone and just swing, said Hatcher, who had the Angels’ Brandon Wood do the same thing this season.
“Sometimes as hitting coaches we can be too mechanically involved,” Hatcher said. “So a lot of times I like our guys to create drills where they can go into the cage by themselves and just clear their mind. There isn’t anybody in there talking to you. And you can get focused and get a feel.”
Work in progress
Scott Kazmir all but abandoned his slider in his first five starts this season and has paid a price, testing the patience of his coaching staff while posting a 7.11 earned-run average, seventh highest among American League starters.
But he said he’s close to getting the pitch back.
“It just feels like, in every bullpen session, we’re getting it that much closer,” said Kazmir, who said the slider was “great” in his workout over the weekend.
Pitching coach Mike Butcher agreed.
“He’s finding it,” Butcher said. “It boils down to ‘I’m going to have confidence in this pitch, I’m going to throw it without any fear. I’m going to throw it with great intent. And there’s going to be a purpose behind it.’
“And he’s getting there.”
Kazmir was hampered all spring by a strained right hamstring, which forced him to start the season on the disabled list. As a result, his focus has been on building stamina and arm strength rather than fine-tuning his pitches.
“I didn’t have a chance to really work on it as much. But I’m not going to blame it on that,” said Kazmir, who has been limited to a plus fastball and a good changeup. “We’re slowly working on it. I’ve thrown a lot of [first-pitch] sliders that have had good bite. But I don’t have that sit-down two-strike slider.”
Short hops
Torii Hunter, who fouled a ball off his right knee Saturday, was limping around the clubhouse with the knee wrapped in ice Sunday. Manager Mike Scioscia had hoped to use Hunter as his designated hitter but decided to give him the day off.
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