The Royals find their pitching whisperer
In what is their biggest acquisition so far this winter, the Royals have a new pitching coach: Brian Sweeney from the Guardians.
Finally. The Royals announced on Thursday they filled out new manager Matt Quatraro’s staff with the additions of pitching coach Brian Sweeney from the Guardians and infield coach José Alguacil from the Nationals.
Obviously, the focus is entirely on Sweeney. After the Royals’ pitching staff flirted with a historically awful 2022 season, it’s obvious why that’s the reason. They need not only a solid pitching coach, they need a savior, someone to get the development on track for the pitching prospects who moved through the pipeline the last couple of seasons.
It’s not hyperbole to say the hiring of Sweeney is Quatraro’s and general manager J.J Picollo’s most important move of the offseason. On the surface, it looks like another fantastic hire.
I’m sure plenty will be made of John Sherman’s past ties to the Cleveland organization as a minority owner and a conclusion will be drawn that this was a reason (or even the reason) for the hire. Maybe there’s something to that, but if you’re looking to emulate a successful organization when it comes to cultivating and devloping pitching, you can’t do much better than what’s been happening in Cleveland. It was clear from the beginning of the search the Royals were going to find someone who could connect with the pitchers on a personal level while deploying the data at hand. They are seeking to discover the secret sauce that’s been lacking. The organization placed a ton of draft capital in all those arms (which is good) and have had a horrible track record at developing them (which is bad).
Sherman’s relationship with Cleveland aside, it’s not surprising the Royals tapped someone from the Guardians organization for the role of pitching coach. Cleveland has been drafting and devloping successful pitchers for well over a decade. When it comest to this facet of the game, they clearly know what they’re doing. It’s also safe to say Sweeney has paid his coaching dues and is ready to lead his own staff.
Back to the Guardians for a moment. The last time a Cleveland pitching staff allowed more runs to score than the league average was back in 2012. From 2013 to last season, Cleveland pitchers posted a collective ERA+ of 115, meaning their staffs were 15 percent better than the league average. The only team better over that stretch was the Dodgers at a 120 ERA+. Their collective ERA was 3.72. By comparison, the Royals over that timeframe posted a 100 ERA+ (what a killer bullpen can do) and a 4.33 ERA.
Last year, Cleveland had the youngest pitching staff in the majors, averaging 26.3 years of age according to Baseball Reference. That young staff allowed just 3.91 runs per game, the eighth-best mark in the game. Weird. We were told that it takes quite a bit of time to develop decent major league arms.
I kind of hate the whole “organizational DNA” talk. Except in this case, I’ll make an exception. Cleveland has been turning out quality pitching over the last decade of baseball. In that time they’ve won four division titles and advanced to the postseason on six occasions. They’ve had some fine hitters, but the backbone of these teams has been the pitching. Quality pitching is in the Cleveland organizational DNA.
Sweeney obviously hasn’t been in Cleveland for that entire run of success, and clearly he’s not responsible for all of their recent success since he’s been on their staff. But if you were to grab someone from a successful organization and you can’t get the general, you snag one of the top lieutenants.
Brian Sweeney was something of a baseball vagabond. The Athletic’s Zack Meisel profiled Sweeney in 2020 as “the pitching guru.” Included in the profile was the story of how Sweeney went from undrafted free agent to pitching in the independent Heartland League to a contract with the Seattle Mariners is wild. He ended up pitching in the Mariners organization on three different occasions. In between, he was with the Padres, Rays and Mets with a three-year turn with the Nippon Ham Fighters in the Pacific League of Japanese baseball. At the end of his career he played outfield for an independent summer league team.
In the article, Sweeney credits his array of experiences with shaping him into the coach he is today. He started with the Philadelphia Phillies organization as a pitching coach in the lower levels of their system where he worked for three years, one year in Rookie ball and two more in Single-A with Lakewood. Cleveland grabbed him and made him an advanced scout for a couple of seasons before he was named their bullpen catcher ahead of 2020. The current Guardians media guide says Sweeney “was a key contributor to the success and development of the club’s current Major League pitchers.”
The Athletic provides a little more context:
His responsibilities evolved more in 2019, when he assisted with pitching drills and studied the metrics behind pitchers’ deliveries. Sweeney developed a knack for applying advanced data and video, tools he wished he had at his disposal during his career. Chernoff described Sweeney as “a big-time learner,” which helps him relate to players who are searching for some revelation with their mechanics or approach.
Advanced data and video you say? A big-time learner? Well, count me in.
There’s a type that Sherman and Picollo are searching for when it comes to adding to their staff. That’s been clear since the day Picollo took the reins as general manager. They’re looking for analytically-minded individuals open to working with the data that is at the fingertips of every major league club. And they’re also looking for communicators…coaches who can parse that data and deliver it to the players in a way that’s constructive to their development.
From another Maisel article in 2019 titled “The Pitching Whisperers:”
“(Pitchers) are all different,” Sweeney said. “And how we coach that up, how we work with them, how we communicate that, that’s the fun part. Not every guy is going to take to the data the same way. It being relatively new, you have to pick your spots. You have to build your plan tailored to that guy’s personality.”
Civale, for instance, said he finds analytics “interesting,” but uses it mostly as reassurance that he’s prioritizing the right cues.
“It can be overwhelming if you let it be,” he said, “but if you know what you’re looking for, you can reach out to the right people.”
And that’s why the coaching element remains critical.
Sweeney obviously brings both personality traits to the job. In each article from The Athletic Sweeney mentions that he wishes he had this kind of data as a young pitcher. It probably would’ve helped him in his career. Imagine a highly touted pitching prospect struggling once he arrived in the majors in the 2020’s, looking back on his career some 20 years later and wishing he had someone coaching him who used data—which is readily available—and could convey it in a way that would have helped. Failing to unlock that data is leaving something behind…an unexplored avenue.
The Royals of the past lacked that curiosity, that drive to figure out how to uncover and communicate information that could’ve helped. The word “could’ve” is key. There’s no guarantee. But to not try everything that’s at your fingertips? Sweeney seems like the kind of coach who will dig and dig and uncover something to at least try. That’s really all anyone can ask.
It’s incredibly frustrating that the Royals wasted three to four key development years for the Class of 2018. It looks like they’ve found their pitching whisperer.
A little background on Infield Coach José Alguacil because his own resume is impressive and he shouldn’t be listed under “other’s hired.”
Alguacil spent 2022 in the Nationals organization as their minor league infield coordinator. From 2007 to 2021, he was with the San Francisco Giants in a variety of coaching roles, including their first base coach for a couple of seasons. He managed the 2015 and 2019 seasons at Double-A Richmond. He was also the manager at Triple-A Sacramento in 2016.
Former Royals beat writer Maria Torres wrote a profile on how Alguacil worked with prospect Brady House and his development at shortstop. It will be interesting to see how Alguacil meshes with Bobby Witt Jr. As I wrote on Thursday, there’s plenty of upside in his defensive game. Perhaps Alguacil will unlock that.
The Royals defense on the infield wasn’t great last summer. They were near the bottom of the league in turning ground balls into outs. Alguacil’s task will be to work with those infielders to improve that rate.
The Royals aren’t done hiring.
I mean…after years in the baseball wilderness when it came to pitching, the Royals are finally coming in from the cold. As the Winter Meetings begin next week, it’s understandable the focus will be on free agency and trades and the Rule 5 draft and such, but it’s impossible to undersell the importance of the moves Sherman initiated with the dismissal of Dayton Moore. With Picollo given the authority to make the moves, he’s…moving. Quatraro was the first big acquisition. Sweeney was the second. An assistant pitching coach (think of someone who will fill the kind of role Sweeney filled with Cleveland) could possibly be the third.
After years of hiring retreads to fill key roles the Royals are finally bringing in some fresh voices and new ideas. Hopefully, these will lead to positive results. For now, these are exciting times to be following the Royals.
I'm not ashamed of the noises I made reading this article.
Great article! I recently read an interview JJ did with David Laurila at fangraphs. He mentioned how the pitching coach they hire and the "manager in the pitching department we'll put together" will be key to each pitcher taking the next step. Any thoughts on who the pitching department manager is/will be? Is that Gibson? Or possibly Bannister/outside hire? Keep up the good work! What an exciting offseason!