May 13 — Carlos Mendez

Columbus Clingstones broadcaster Jack Johnson visited with Braves roving hitting instructor Carlos Mendez at Synovus Park in Columbus, Georgia. 

Mendez reflected on the pride of helping Team Venezuela capture the World Baseball Classic as an assistant hitting coach, shared his thoughts on Grant Kay and the offensive success the Clingstones enjoyed early in the season, and discussed the development of players including Lizandro Espinoza, David McCabe, and Cal Conley. He also explained the value that winter ball in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic can provide for a player's growth and development.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Back on the Columbus Klingstones pregame show, sitting in the home dugout at Sinovis Park, and good to catch up with a friend of mine, Carlos Mendez, who is in town. Mendy, we met four years ago in Gwen Even you're the hitting coach with the Stripers. Now here we are four years later in a town that didn't even have Braves affiliated baseball until last season. So let's start there. Now that you've seen the facility, what do you think about this facility at Sanovis Park here in Columbus?

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Unbelievable. Pretty. I mean, like I say, this is just I hear from people like you will like it over there when you go there. I noticed a new old stadium, they renew it, they make some remodelations, and it's unbelievable. The cage, the surface, the dugout. Awesome for the top, awesome for us, the brace. We are now as a roving hitting coordinator. You come here and then you just spend a couple days with the guys, and uh this will be one of my favorite places to come more often.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Well, we'd always love to have you however many times you want to come down. Let's talk about what you've been up to because it's been a great couple of few months. Like I mentioned a few years ago, you're the stripers hitting coach, now you're roving hitting coordinator in the Braves organization. What have the past four months been like for you?

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Yeah, you know, I got a new position with the Braves. I was going to be doing this. When they told me I was going to do this, I'm very excited. I was very excited. But then when I knew about the WBC, one of the hitting coaches in that team, Central Miguel Cabrera. I was really excited when it really happens when I show up the first day of practice and the whole 20 days we s we spend together was unbelievable. Representing you your country and then it just it was an amazing experience. Something that uh I never never had any type of expectation. I didn't know what to expect, and not just go out there competing and winning the whole thing was the most amazing thing ever happened to me as a coach because we were a family, we were representing a country, like I said before, and uh it was pretty good feel, see how people react whenever we win the whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

You know, one of my favorite moments of the WBC was when your country won it all and they played the national anthem, and I could see the emotion on many of the players and the coaches' faces and their family members and the crowd, the people that had traveled from Venezuela to Miami to watch that game. Can you take me back to that moment when the anthem was playing? You were saluting your country's flag and realizing what you had accomplished.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Well, we just celebrated, that wasn't planned. We just sent the thing, okay, we got a holding trophy, taking pictures, whatever. Next thing you know, they start playing the anthem, and everybody stood up, started singing. And it was just I still seen the video and giving the chills, man. It's just and my kids saw that. My wife saw that, and you know, I got a bunch of texts from a bunch of people baseball, family. Uh Brian Sneaker texts me, say man, you're really into that. You knew the ante, but and I didn't know it was being the animated until I saw the video. And if I you know, just something that that just happened, and it was the most it was unbelievable, unbelievable. Nothing like I say before, there's nothing like it, and the whole country was singing with us, and that was the best part of it.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

It was amazing to watch. Let's talk about some of our guys. Greg Kay's the hitting coach here in Columbus. His team has hit 52 homers through 33 games. It's a lot of players who have turned the corner from last season for a team that only hit 78 homers in 135 games. These guys look really good at the play right now. What is the thing that stands out about this group to you?

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Well, I think Grant Grant Kay is just awesome. He just hard work, he relates to the kids, he he he's he's their friend. And as a hitting coach, you need that. You need that type of relationship to because Salon C some guys we hit the whole year, some guys might be moved up, who knows? But uh he started down the spring training, and when you we he we knew that this thing was doing good, and they doing we got we got an older group, we got some a mix of old young guys, and uh man, he's doing everything he needs to do to keep these guys going, uh motivated and keeping coming to work, ready to work every day. Even the day they don't feel 100%, they give him the effort and then just trying to get better every day. And uh Grant K, that's why he's here for us and he's doing a great job. And I'm happy for not just for the players, for him and for the whole organization, we're happy to have him here.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

So, with all the experiences you've had working in the WBC, working in the Braves dugout, working in AAA, working at different levels of the organization and in spring training, what do you think is the best way to go about being a hitting coach? Because for Grant, this is only the second year in his job and his team is succeeding as much as they are.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Well, you have to, you know, one day at a time. You need to know, get to know your players, get to know your guys because these are some days they're gonna show up and they they don't have it on them, and you just have to know when to say something. You don't have to be the guy has something to say every day as in the coach. And the cages I mean, days they come in, they do the routine, they get out. Talk to them before the game about the game planning and stuff, and and that's part of being a hidden coach. It's gonna be time and places that you say, hey man, come here, we're gonna have early work, we're gonna work on this, I've seen this on the video, but you you have to pick your your staff to say something. They really do that way the play doesn't feel like it's gonna be overwhelmed with information, and uh they be ready to listen to you whenever you have to say something. It's a long season, it's gonna be up and downs, it's gonna be slumps. You just have to make sure that you have something for them when things are not going well.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

With Roving hitting instructor for the Atlanta Braves, Carlos Mendez. Many, let's talk about some individual players for this team. I want to start with the fellow countryman, Lisandro Espinoza. He did not start his career in the Braves organization, but he is broken out this season. He's got 15 steals, he's got five home runs. He looks like a tremendous player that has turned a corner. What has stood out to you about his performance this year?

SPEAKER_01 5:52

Well, we all knew he got a kill set. He he got a lot of stuff. He can do he can do a lot of things on the field. He can run, he can throw, he can hit, he can hit for power. And just for him, he grew as a hitter. And uh last year I know the numbers weren't there, but I like he's he worked hard. He played in Venezuela, that really helped him a lot during the winter. And in spring training, you know, our goal is try to make sure that uh he made better decisions, swing decisions. He's doing that, man. He's and you see that the numbers showing that, and he's playing great, he's he got a he get along with everybody, and then he's a likable kid, a young kid uh with a lot of energy. But uh, you know, it's it's it's a reminder every day you have to go on the cages, do your routine, know what to do. No, start to learn how to game plan. How are they gonna pitch you? How you gonna how they're gonna attack you? And you can have an idea, you uh how you wanna attack the pitcher that day.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

You talk about it. Not as much chase in his game. There's really no chase in anyone's game here in Columbus. They entered today with the second lowest strikeout percentage in all the double-A baseball, which I know has to be good news for anyone that's involved in the hitting department with the Atlanta Braves. How do you get a team full of position players who are here to hit, who are naturally aggressive to buy into something like that?

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Well, I think when they all go from the hitting coach in the philosophy that you gotta be better at that, starting a sprint training, and they, you know, they put it, they put it out in into the game to their at-bats. Also the older guys, man, you got guys like Waddell here, you got Grossman, guys uh McCabe, guys being true play, guys being even in the big leagues, and they can they can help those young kids. Say, man, this is not everything gotta happen the first two two two pitches of the at-bat. So it's a com like the combination is always good, the coaching staff doing a great job. I mean, generally, not just Grand Case, everybody here just they got a good thing going on, and I think they're winning, they're working as a team, and they're winning, winning as a team.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Let me ask you about two more players individually, David McCabe. Ten homers already this season. He has tapped into his power, and it's always been there. That's what the Braves drafted him for after great power numbers at Charlotte. But something has changed for Dave. What do you think it is?

SPEAKER_01 7:57

I think maturity. I think you're just healthy, finally 100% healthy. Remember last year I was coming back from the he got Tommy Jones surgery a couple years ago. We don't know how much that affects him as a hitter. But uh I just think that, like you say, he's always been there. Now he's just putting stuff together, and and you have to go through up and downs in this game. It's gonna be years, months, it's gonna be tough. You have to grow from that. Try to learn from what you need to work on and know what is your strength, and don't let that get away from you. And uh, he's doing a great job with that. He's he's always been a guy that doesn't swing out of the sound much. He also got the power, he's just now put it putting it together, and I'm happy for him because he's uh not just a great player, but he's a great, great kid.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

I talked to Grant Kay about Cal Conley, who's off to a great start this year. He's tapped into his power as well. He has four homers, that's more than he's ever hit in one season in double A. Is there something that's changed for Cal or is he just performing up to the level that we know he can?

SPEAKER_01 8:53

I know he can. It's all about confidence, about you know, he playing his game and do more than he was capable of. He just uh, you know, he always being a guy that always put the ball in play, whatever. We the only thing we try to tell him is like you you can hit the ball hard, you can be more aggressive and early counts and be, you know, willing to hit the ball into the gaps. And he's doing that, and his VPs are better. I mean, his work ethic's always been there. Now he just learned about himself what else, what much, what else he can do instead of just put the ball in play and try to do a little more damage. Not try to hit Homer, just hit the ball hard into the gaps and then hit the ball more with more, not into the ground as much. And I think he's doing a great job with that, man.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Let me end on this. Playing in winter ball, both in your playing career and now in the Venezuelan Winter League and the Dominican Winter League, how much value can that bring to Atlanta Braves players when they go looking for something to do in the offseason?

SPEAKER_01 9:45

They learn how to win. The tough can be just a different thing. Like when a guy goes there, even uh like Espinoza played there as a rookie, and you face guys, you know, he said you face guys to 32-year-old, they don't throw the fastball. It's a lot of stuff going on. They travel, sometimes tough, but uh you play in front of fans that are gonna yell at you, anything, just to get you going, and it's something you might see here in Thursday, Thursdays, right? Right. You know, depending on the time that you are, but over there it's about winning, you learn how to win. It's not about you, it's about the team, and uh I think that's what can bring to you. You go you go overseas and play, and it's a different it's the same game, but can be so different in so many ways.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Well, Carlos Mendez, it was so much fun to watch you win a title in the World Baseball Classic for your country. Thanks so much for stopping by, Columbus man. I can't wait to see you again. But thanks for taking the time.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Hey my man, you know since day one, you keep doing your thing, you're doing great. Thank you, though I appreciate this.