To hear Chris Stewart tell it, his recently minted extension with the Pittsburgh Pirates is all about stability.
“Oh, it’s huge. For me and my family,” Stewart told me recently during a phone interview. “First off, it’s knowing where we are going to be for more than a year. It’s relieving for us.”
Surely it was relieving for the Pirates as well, who now have their 2016 catching corps locked up for the foreseeable future. After agreeing to terms with starting catcher Francisco Cervelli to avoid arbitration, the team can now turn its attention to spring training. Pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 18, and Stewart has already begun his prep work.
The Pirates pitching staff will have some new faces this year. The starting rotation will see Jon Niese and Ryan Vogelsong arrive, and the bullpen sees even more additions. From a catcher’s point of view, how will Stewart and Cervelli change their normal preparation routines?
For Stewart, there is still a great deal of consistency though some faces may be new.
“You know, the good thing is, is most of the pitchers were there last year, so I have a pretty good feel for those guys.” Stewart explained.
“The new guys coming in, I try to get videos sent to me in the off season that way I can kinda see how they go about pitching. The bulk of the work is gonna actually be in Spring Training when I sit down with those guys. Having one-on-one conversations, trying to pick their brains about what they like to do, what they feel comfortable with doing and what they might need to work on during Spring Training.”
Stewart gained a reputation for developing an effective working relationship with Gerrit Cole as the Pirates ace had a touchstone year in terms of development. When asked what Cole would need to do in 2016 to continue that progress, Stewart displayed a telling amount of familiarity with the young hurler.
“Obviously, he had an incredible run during the middle of the season where he just, every time he went out, we got a win for him. Or, he got a win for us, I should say,” Stewart said. “It just absolutely locked in. And then you know, a couple games he had, you wouldn’t call them bad games, but they were bad games for him in comparison to the rest of the season.
“But it’s just a matter of him going out each and every time. I think he did a tremendous job last year controlling his emotions a little better out on the mound. He knew how to handle certain situations. He didn’t let certain situations distract him from the overall goal, and I think that mental focus is what created the success he had last year.”
Stewart ended his thoughts on Cole with a view shared by many Pirates observers. By virtue of residing on the receiving end of Cole’s ace-level pitching, his view may carry more weight than most.
“The sky’s the limit with that kid,” he said.
Perhaps the most illuminating aspect of our talk came when I asked Stewart if the perceived perception of Pirates pitchers’ slowness to the plate causing a spike in stolen bases against the club was actually true.
“We were a little lackadaisical mindset-wise to where we weren’t really paying attention to the runners over there as much as you could have,” Stewart said.
“It is a little bit of that philosophy. We’re trying to get the hitter out, we’re not worried too much about those runners on base. We feel like we get that ground ball, we feel really focused on that. It doesn’t matter what’s going on out there on the bases. But at the same time, you know, we can’t be giving out some easy stolen bases. I think that’s what happened a couple times last year, Guys are basically coming into second base standing up, and we just can’t have that.”
I asked Stewart how the Pirates could shake that label and catch more would-be base-stealers. His response was classic Stewart, measured in response while maintaining his own accountability.
“I think that’s going to be one of our focuses in Spring Training — how do we control their running game better. Whether it’s the pitcher holding the ball longer, maybe a couple more throws over there at first base. I know personally, I have to make better throws down to second base. Quite a few balls got away from me. I tried to be too quick to make up for that lost time and that runner ended up going to third base because of it.”
Stewart catches runners at a 30 percent career clip, but has seen some struggle in his years with the club. His rates of 23 percent and 24 percent in 2013 and 2014, respectively, were both below the league average of 28 percent. Can a team approach help bring those numbers more in line?
“It’s a matter of the whole team trying to figure out a way to limit those guys getting such good jumps over there … disrupting their timing so that Francisco and I do have a chance to throw them out when we get the opportunity. Hopefully we can utilize some strength and knock it down before the season starts.”
Like most catchers, Stewart provides great value that isn’t seen in offensive numbers alone. With a cerebral approach to the game that goes all year round, Stewart comes at a bargain for a club that continues to be reliant on pitching.
