Around the Curve | Spring Break Young Bucs Edition: Robby Hammock Ready To Get Down To Business In Curve, PA

Entering his second season as an instructor in the Pirates minor league system, Robby Hammock appears at ease as he works his way around the Double-A group at Pirate City. Familiarity goes a long way, but for a veteran instructor like Hammock he clearly enjoys the daily grind of working on the diamond everyday.

It’s not a surprise given his history in the game. 182 major league games with the Arizona Diamondbacks across six seasons and a significant part of one of the brightest moments in D’Backs history as the catcher for Randy Johnson’s Perfect Game thrown in Atlanta in 2004.

“Well, it was the easiest game I ever caught,” Hammock said with a laugh in a shady spot of the batting cages at Pirate City on Thursday morning. “It was pretty nerve-wracking, one, to catch Randy and then to get to that point late in the game where so many things can happen. There are so many things that have to go right to accomplish [a perfect game] and it was a close game as well. Someone could get an infield hit and then a homer and we’re tied. It was in my hometown too and I was still living in Marietta at the time, so I left probably 40-50 tickets on the pass list and then another 80 or 100 people that bought tickets to come to the game. It was intense, but at the same time I felt like we were in control for the entire game.”

Control is something that is a little bit tougher to come by in baseball when you move from the field to coaching. Hammock finished his playing career in 2011 and accepted a coaching role with the Diamondbacks that off-season as a Hitting Coach with the AZL Diamondbacks in 2012. After a one-year stint in the complex, Hammock worked his way up as a Manager in Arizona’s minor league system going from Rookie-level Missoula to Single-A Visalia and two years at Double-A Mobile before accepting a role on Torey Luvollo’s coaching staff in 2017 as Arizona’s Quality Control and Catching Coach, staying through 2021.

While Hammock has experience instructing at every level of the minor leagues, including a one-year stint as the Bench Coach for Triple-A El Paso in the Padres organization in 2022, he says his approach doesn’t change with what level he’s working at in the minor league system.

“Well, you want to win every game. That’s first and foremost,” Hammock shared. “And then it’s trying to figure out how to develop players within that structure. [My approach] doesn’t necessarily change much. Once you move up in levels, you can start introducing the players to more advanced analytics and numbers and put things in front of them that they can start to process or learn how to process because you’re getting closer to the major leagues.”

Hammock’s first season in the system saw him manage several players at High-A Greensboro that made their way to Altoona during the 2023 season. Players like Jase Bowen, who Hammock noted did a much better job limiting the number of pitches he was chasing out of the zone, Abrahan Gutierrez, Jackson Glenn, Anthony Solometo and Bubba Chandler.

Bubba Chandler has one of the best arms in the Pirates minor league system, but it was a focus on the mental approach where he made the biggest strides.

“He had some trouble controlling his emotions out there early in the season, he would let little things get to him, he would lose his focus and concentration. And our talks with him were like ‘Hey this is an issue of maturity’ and I told him the organization is going to wait. Gradually over the course of the year he was better about controlling his emotions and started to move,” Hammock shared. “He’s got electric stuff and I think no doubt he’ll pitch in the big leagues for a long time, but it’s going to be up to him for how long.”

Curve Cuts

• Many players and coaching staff have been in Florida since late-January and with minor league games getting underway toward the end of this week, everyone around Pirate City can start to sense that the season is getting close. Sometimes the monotony of spring training workouts can be a grind, but the end is in sight.
• Speaking of the end, the last two to three weeks of Spring Training can be a reminder of the business of baseball. With minor league players now working under a collective bargaining agreement, there is a set number of players that the organization can employ when the season begins. The Domestic Reserve List, which governs the maximum number of players in an organization outside of Latin America, will be reduced this season from 180 to 165. There will be some very difficult decisions for the organization to make in the coming days and weeks to assign players to appropriate levels, but also to ensure they are compliant with the Minor League CBA.
• Word trickled out via ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Friday afternoon that the Pirates were signing outfielder Michael A. Taylor to a one-year deal. Taylor can slot into center field and alleviate some of the pressure on Jack Suwinski and Bryan Reynolds to play there on a regular basis. The question becomes how ready will Taylor be when he arrives in Bradenton and can he be ready to start on Opening Day. Taylor’s signing will have an interesting trickle-down effect in the organization as Joshua Palacios and Ji-Hwan Bae have dealt with injuries this spring and Edward Olivares has had mixed results at the plate this spring. Clearly the Pirates saw a chance to upgrade their defense and everyday lineup with his addition. He slugged a career-best 21 homers with Minnesota last season and won a Gold Glove with Kansas City in 2021.
• And lastly, a hearty thank you goes out to the folks in Pirates PR and Player Development for welcoming the Curve into Pirate City and LECOM Park this week. Can’t wait for April 5th!