On a team stocked with young position players, Orioles hitting coach Don Long encourages a mix of aggression and discipline. He sums up the approach in six words.
With two weeks until Opening Day of a season the coronavirus pandemic shortened to 60 games, Long’s hitters are, in many ways, forced to be hurried. Adding to the difficulty of such circumstances is that several Orioles had few or no opportunities against live pitching in the almost four months since the virus shut down spring training and delayed the regular season.
“Even during a season, under normal circumstances, the biggest disconnect in hitting from practice to game is finding opportunities to replicate game speed,” Long said.