THURSDAy, MARCH 5 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU D3
GREGORY BULL/ASSOCIATED PRESSF ormer MVP Christian Yelich is closing in on a contract extension worth anywhere from $188 million to $215 million with the Brewers.
thinks robles, who is dealing
with soreness in his side and is
day-to-day, should focus on be-
coming a better fastball hitter.
This spring, Long and robles
started working with the “seven-
ball stick” that helped Juan Soto
fix his swing during last year’s
playoffs in a late-night batting
cage session. Soto used the stick
vertically, learning to let the ball
get closer to him, but robles is
using it horizontally. When Long
throws, he wants robles, like
Soto, to call out what he sees,
“one” being an inside strike and
“seven” being the very outside
corner.
right away, as robles started
hammering ones, he discovered
the new positioning and fluidity
help him handle the inside cor-
ner to the outside corner without
having to change his swing. He
stays compact so he can react to
the fastball and not have to cheat
against breaking or off-speed
pitches. He struggled against the
sevens, and he will continue to
work at them, but Long would
prefer he lay off.
That’s the selectivity part. The
Nationals want robles to learn
it’s not just about what is a strike
and what is not. It’s about which
strikes he can hit for damage.
“Those guys at the top of the
order, Adam Eaton and Trea
Turner, they know their strike
zone. They know it very, very
well,” Long said. “Vic, at times,
loses that, and he’s going to have
to be really, really good at deter-
mining whether a ball’s a strike
or whether to let it go.” He
paused.
“If he can do that, he’s got a
chance to be up at the top of the
order.”
[email protected]high-level.” So robles established
a routine with his fungo bat:
Twenty-five cuts with only his
bottom hand, then only his top
hand, then both. Smooth, not
violent.
“Part of Vic’s DNA is hard,
hard, hard, and we need it to be
toned down,” Long said. “When
he’s toned down, he’s a better
player.”
While change-ups sometimes
flummox robles and breaking
balls occasionally entice him to
swing outside the zone, Long
believes he will improve against
them over time. Instead, LongAt home in the Dominican
republic this offseason, robles
tossed balls in the air and hit
them. It was how he learned la
plaquita, the cricket-like street
game of his youth. Long wanted
robles to focus on fluidity, on not
swinging too hard. When he did
that last year, robles’s mechanics
unraveled, his movements
slowed, and his body sapped
power from his bat’s barrel. Long
said he has read studies that
show less intense swings help
hitters square up the ball more
often, and he believes robles at
70 percent effort is “still very, v eryrendon, whom the Nationals
cannot replace. Their best effort
to fill that hole, though, would
include an offensive leap from
robles.
What the 22-year-old could be
captivates manager Dave marti-
nez. He envisions robles as a
top-of-the-order hitter, and re-
cently in his office, he day-
dreamed about pushing him up
this season against left-handed
pitchers, keeping Adam Eaton
second and flipping Trea Turner
to third. But martinez knows
robles has a long way to go. He is
more likely to hit seventh, eighth
or sometimes ninth.
“We’ll have options,” martinez
said, still imagining a world post-
robles development. He added,
“If he can show he can command
the strike zone, we could possibly
put him up.”
The manager’s last point is
broader than “don’t chase.” rob-
les swung at 31.9 percent of
pitches outside the strike zone
last season, according to fan-
Graphs. That is the same as
Turner and about the major
league average. He means robles
must become more patient, more
selective. His walk rate last year,
5.7 percent, was among baseball’s
lowest.
This message — refine your
aggression — drives at the heart
of robles as a player. When mar-
tinez tells robles, “Take your
walks,” he is echoing the senti-
ment outfield coordinator Bob
Henley repeated like a broken
record last year about not trying
to throw out every base runner.
It’s why, when Long built a new
series of drills for robles, he
started with something simple.
natIonals from D1
Robles is taking new approach to cover entire plate
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
nationals outfielder Victor Robles struggles with outside pitches,
so he has been working on the issue with hitting coach Kevin long.BASEBALL
BY DAVE SHEININThis is extension season in
baseball, the time when super-
stars and their teams decide
whether they want to make their
relationships long term and, if so,
for how long and how much mon-
ey. In a single dizzying week near-
ly a year ago, this resulted in mike
Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Chris
Sale, Alex Bregman and Justin
Verlander signing extensions that
combined were worth nearly
$1 billion.
If there was one star and one
team destined to commit to each
other for the long haul this spring,
it was outfielder Christian Yelich
and the milwaukee Brewers. All
the ingredients were there: a su-
perstar in the late stages of an
under-market contract, a mid-
market team and perennial con-
tender largely clear of future pay-
roll commitments and a healthy
relationship that both sides
seemed motivated to continue.
With news of Yelich closing in
on a lengthy extension worth any-
where from $188 million to
$215 million, depending on how it
is structured, the Brewers get to
keep the face of their franchise —
and one of the greatest hitters of
this generation — through the
end of this decade. And Yelich
gets a contract that will finally
pay him market rate for a player
of his ability and track record.
Both sides should be thrilled.
The Yelich deal, first reported
Tuesday by the Athletic, is expect-
ed to begin in 2022, eliminating
what would have been a team
option for that year. Yelich, 28,
has two years remaining on the
seven-year, $49 million contract
he signed with the miami marlins
before the 2015 season — a deal
that is now regarded as one of the
most club-friendly in recent
years.
Acquired by the Brewers via
trade in January 2018, Yelich has
delivered two mVP-caliber sea-
sons — he won the NL award in
2018 and was runner-up to Cody
Bellinger in 2019 — w hile earning
a total of $16.5 million in those
years, both of which resulted in
playoff appearances for the Brew-ers.
In the last two years of his old
deal, he is set to earn $12.5 million
this season (when he will be the
106th-highest-paid player in the
game) and $14 million in 2021.
The new deal will pay him along
the lines of $27 million per sea-
son, which would put him around
10th in average salary among po-
sition players.
for the Brewers, the deal was a
no-brainer — e ven though it near-
ly doubles the previous largest
contract in team history, the five-
year, $105 million deal it gave
ryan Braun in 2011. Yelich is the
model for what a modern super-
star should be: productive, dura-
ble and dedicated to his craft.
Although his 2019 season ended
in September with a fluky knee
injury, he averaged 153 games
over the previous three seasons.
He followed up his 2018 mVP
season — in which he had a
.326 batting average, a .402 on-
base percentage and a .598 slug-
ging percentage to go with
36 homers and 110 rBI — with an
even better season in 2019 (.329/
.429/.671, 44, 97), and he probably
lost the award to Bellinger only
because of his knee injury.
The Brewers, with a payrollthat typically ranks in the lower
third in baseball, had to do some
maneuvering to make this deal
happen. They cleared room for
Yelich by parting ways with in-
fielder mike moustakas and
catcher Yasmani Grandal and
generally treading lightly in free
agency, l eaving them with no sala-
ry commitments beyond 2022.
Playing in one of the smallest
markets in baseball, the Brewers
can’t afford to miss with their big
swings. But Yelich is as close to a
sure thing as there is: a superstar
who keeps finding ways to get
better. And by locking up their
best player for the better part of a
decade, for the type of money that
is unprecedented in franchise his-
tory, the Brewers demonstrated
their commitment to winning —
always a refreshing move in an
era in which tanking remains a
popular pathway.
Before Yelich arrived, the
Brewers hadn’t been to the play-
offs since 2011. With him, they
have been there twice in two
seasons. With a new deal keeping
them together for years to come,
the window of contention for
Yelich and the Brewers could stay
open for quite some time.
[email protected]ANALYSIS
With Yelich, Brewers take a big swing
Small-market club shows
ambition with its effort
to e xtend star’s contractFROM NEWS SERVICES
AND STAFF REPORTSBoston red Sox starter Chris
Sale is not expected to need To m-
my John surgery after experienc-
ing soreness in his throwing el-
bow after he faced batters for the
first time this spring, according
to Ken rosenthal of the Athletic.
manager ron roenicke said
Sale felt the soreness in his elbow
monday morning, the day after
an 18-pitch batting practice ses-
sion. Te am doctors reviewed the
results of an mrI exam and sent
them to orthopedic surgeon
James Andrews.
“obviously we’re concerned
about it,” roenicke said Tuesday.
Sale’s batting practice session
Sunday was the first time he
faced hitters since he gave up five
runs over 6^2 / 3 innings in a win at
Cleveland on Aug. 13. He went on
the injured list with elbow in-
flammation, finishing 6-11 with a
4.40 ErA in 25 starts — h is fewest
wins and starts and highest ErA
in a full season since 2012.
Sale avoided surgery on his
elbow, receiving platelet-rich
plasma injections in the fall in-
stead.
“There’s some concern, know-
ing how his 2019 went and know-
ing how important he is to us,”
chief baseball officer Chaim
Bloom said. “But we also know
that in the course of building up,
when you do hit these milestones,
sometimes you can get sore.
l REDs: Trevor Bauer thinks
his decision to tip pitches for a
Los Angeles Dodgers batter dur-
ing a spring training game and
the resulting attention are good
for baseball.
The outspoken Cincinnati
starter signaled pitches to the
Dodgers’ matt Beaty during a
game monday. Bauer flicked his
glove t oward the catcher before
each pitch — a sign a fastball was
coming — and Beaty eventually
lined out to center field.
Bauer told reporters Wednes-
day he was just having fun andthe pitch tipping wasn’t intended
to help the team that lost to the
Astros in the World Series.
“It wasn’t t eam-specific,” B auer
said. “I did it a couple times last
season in games. There are a lot of
interesting outcomes from it, psy-
chologically and competitively.
Spring training is time to work on
things.”
Te ammate Derek Dietrich told
fox Sports during the game that
Bauer was responding to the sign-
stealing scandal.
l GIants: Ty ler Beede’s
chances at earning the fifth spot
in San francisco’s rotation took a
blow when he began to feel tight-
ness in his right elbow.
An mrI exam showed a flexor
strain and UCL sprain in that
elbow — an ominous first opin-
ion, to be sure. The Giants will get
second opinions this week to
determine the severity, but h e
probably will be shelved for at
least a week or two.
l PIRatEs: Pittsburgh gave
its spring training home a deep
clean as a proactive measure after
a man in manatee County tested
positive for coronavirus.
Pirates spokesman Brian
Warecki said workers sanitized
the clubhouse, press box, conces-
sion stands and other areas of
LECom Park in an “overabun-
dance of caution.” LECom Park is
located in downtown Bradenton,
fla., which is in the middle of
manatee County.
The cleaning was done Tues-
day, a scheduled day off for the
Pirates.
“We will continue to actively
consider other efforts that we can
implement to help maintain a
healthy environment for our fans,
players and staff,” Warecki said.
l PHIllIEs: Bryce Harper hit
his first two home runs of spring
training, both two-run drives, in
Philadelphia’s 9-7 victory over
Pittsburgh in a split-squad game
in Clearwater, fla.
Phillies shortstop Didi Grego-
rious was hitless in three at-bats,
dropping him to 0 for 15.SPRING TRAINING NOTESReport: Ailing lefty Sale
does not need surgery
JOHN BAZEMORE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Boston’s Chris sale, who had an MRI exam after pitching batting
practice sunday, is not expected to need tommy John surgery.THOUSANDS OF HOMEOWNERS
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