New Giants’ bullpen coach Matt Herges is determined to create a new mindset with the team’s relievers.
The former Giants’ reliever was hired this offseason to replace long-time bullpen coach Mark Gardner, and though San Francisco’s relievers have struggled over the past few seasons, Herges is eager to get to work and foster a hard-nosed mentality with his staff.
While some coaches might be more excited to work with proven closers like Mark Melancon and Sam Dyson, Herges said he’s fascinated by two other Giants’ relievers, Hunter Strickland and Josh Osich, because of the mentality they bring to the mound.
“I’ve always been fascinated with two guys on this team,” Herges told Ryan Covay & Kevin Frandsen on KNBR’s Giants’ Hot Stove special. “One being Hunter Strickland. The other one being the big donkey left-hander, not Will Smith, not Osich, I love Osich too. Not Madison, doggone it. It’s Osich, Osich is the one. Two power arms that look like they’re going to rip your face off and I love the look they have. But ultimately, I want to get to know what makes them tick. And if I can enhance in any way the mindset of how they go about their business, because I watch these guys, I’m like yeah, that’s the look I like. They’re about ready to rip your face off.”
Herges said that working with manager Bruce Bochy is an excellent opportunity because of the way Bochy manages his staff, and while having a closer like Melancon is critical to the Giants’ potential success, Herges is focused on finding ways to turn average pitchers into more reliable options.
“Boch is a master at running a pen,” Herges said. “I pitched for him in San Diego, he’s great at that. Here’s the deal. How do we make the guy that I was, the average pitcher, on those margins, how do we find an advantage? How do we make those guys have career years? And not just this year, next year as well. No knock on anybody, but obviously the Mark Melancons, the Kenley Jansens of the world, they’re going to get outs. No matter what you tell them. They’re going to probably dominate. But it’s everybody else, the grinder types, how do we make them better? How do we make them believe in their stuff more? How do we make them throw more strikes for goodness sake’s?”
Herges spent time working with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, and he spoke about the role analytics can play in a pitcher’s ability to gain an edge when approaching hitters. He said the Dodgers have a heavy analytical lean, and while he’ll bring some of that strategy to the Giants this season, he said his primary focus is finding ways to help his relievers take on a different attitude, and throw more strikes.
“Ultimately, the best pitchers in the game throw more strikes than everybody else,” Herges said. “It’s a mindset. Changing the mindset, because Rags is incredible, Gardy is incredible, I learned from those guys. Those are the guys I draw a lot of my knowledge from. It’s just making that mindset, that attitude in the pen, it needs to be better. And doggone it, you can help the guy who doesn’t have the lights-out stuff, you can make him better by just the mindset and how he goes about his business.”
Herges pitched in the Major Leagues for 11 seasons, and attributed his success as “an average pitcher” to the mentality and approach he brought to the mound on an outing-by-outing basis. The Giants’ new bullpen coach recalled a time in 2004 when he was serving as San Francisco’s closer when he was told he needed to grow a beard to enhance his ability to strike fear in opposing hitters.
While Herges joked that wasn’t possible, he did say that the facial hair Osich and Strickland have could help their cause.
“I remember Tito Fuentes when I was closing for a brief time in San Francisco in ’04, he said listen, ‘You need to grow your facial hair out, you need to start looking mean,’ I said, ‘I can’t. I don’t have facial hair, I don’t look mean. I’m mean inside, but these guys have that physical presence and man, and the arm, and the stuff to dominate. And I’m not saying that they haven’t, but I can’t wait to get my hands on these two dudes.”
To listen to Herges’ full interview with Frandsen & Covay, click the podcast link below. To hear Herges’ comments on Strickland and Osich, skip ahead to the 9:15 mark.