LA Angels: Impressions from Inland Empire 66ers Media Day

Prior to the Opening Night festivities for the LA Angels High A MiLB organization, the Inland Empire 66ers, we here at Halo Hangout met with some prospects and coaches with the team regarding the upcoming season among other topics for Media Day. Among those we spoke with include team manager Ryan Barba and fan favorite Torii Hunter Jr. among a couple other members of the team.

The Inland Empire 66ers have been home to quite a number of high level prospects within the LA Angels system. From Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell last year to possibly Jordyn Adams later this year, the 66ers have become a passing ground for the future elites. However, regardless of the top prospects that come through the system the 66ers stands as a great team for their own.

The entire coaching staff with Inland Empire have a way of nurturing a strong chemistry and trust among their players and that’s something that can bring memorable success to the team within itself, not just the individual top prospects that make it their home for a short stay.

Last season, 2018, saw the 66ers come just inches from a playoff berth, the team dropping out of the race within the last 3 games of the season. It was tough to watch such a talented team go down so late in a playoff race, but at the same time it showed just how strong a foundation for future success had been laid.

The most encouraging thing about all this? A winning team produces a winning mentality, if the Angels MiLB affiliate can continue to build upon these winning ways, especially to the point of playoff success, the prospects who become a part of that success will be able to take that experience and imparted knowledge all the way to the top.

Manager Ryan Barba

The Inland Empire 66ers manager, Ryan Barba, is in his second season with the team after managing the corps through the 2018 season. The introductory season for Barba saw him manage the biggest prospects in the Angels system; from Griffin Canning to Jahmai Jones, most everyone on the Top 25 prospect lists have come under Barba’s watchful eye.

Managing a team of young, hungry MiLB’ers is a tough job within itself, but when you add in the developmental responsibilities a batch of top prospects bring you have yourself one of the most important roles within this fledgling Angels organization.

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One way to ensure constant, big-time winning from the core of prospects that will soon head to Anaheim is to simply put them in a winning environment. You don’t have to send them to the playoffs to create this winning structure, but what you do need to do is surround them with the intent of winning and the actions/preparations that go into crafting a winning attitude.

Barba [on sending his players to playoffs]: “I don’t sit there and necessarily focus on the playoffs, we focus on tomorrow. On today. We try to win the day and if we’re in the playoffs at the end of the day then we are. It’s a great experience for the players, it’s a great experience for the coaching staff. But like I said, we come out here, we focus on today and go from there.

“It’s just all of us doing our jobs, you know? Day in and day out we’re getting these players better, hopefully getting them out and improving their craft, communicating with them and giving them the best information we possibly can.

Barba [on the developmental process]: “It’s one of those things where you sit there and you trust the process. When they’re up at the plate we’re making sure they’re executing what they need to execute. Same thing on the mound and defensively, at the end of the day if we take care of those things as a collective unit the game will take care of itself.

We can leave here and look at ourselves in the mirror and understand that we did what we had to do, we executed what we needed to execute. Whether a base hit, a quality at bat, a certain pitch or whatever have you. We understand that and we trust the process, at the end of the day we know the wins and losses will take care of themselves.

Barba [on his 2018 squad]: “We had a really good group. I put the lineup out there and watched them while understanding they’re giving their all, that’s something I felt we had that all season. You don’t really have to sit there and pick out favorites, every single one of them means a lot to our staff, to our organization. When we roll them out there its fun to watch them go out there and do their thing.”

While the focus is on developing players in the MiLB it doesn’t change the game of baseball; a game that ends with winners and losers. You don’t want to trudge a plethora of prospects through the sludge of a losing season. Sure there are players aren’t effected by losing environments, they just want to play and work on their craft, but not all athletes are cut from the same cloth.

In order to provide the best developmental environment possible you want to do whatever you can to send your players home happy and confident. One way to do that is by sending them home winners. It’s not always easy to accomplish that in the MiLB when situational managing has a lesser importance than keeping your players worked. Even if it isn’t the best player for the situation.

Barba [on improving his management skills]  “You’re always learning. We have a great staff as a whole, not just here but throughout the organization. You’re in constant communication with them. Spring Training is a great time to enhance your knowledge of the game in all aspects. You’re always trying to learn, soaking up information, what works for you, what may not work for you. What works for your group, communication wise, and what kind of dynamic you can have in the clubhouse. You’re always learning

You do some reading, check in on some books. Gain knowledge that way. You’re always communicating, there are a lot of guys around the organization you talk to. Not only are you co-workers, but you’re also friends. If something pops up in a game, maybe a playoff game or something, you give ’em call and have an open discussion about it. That’s how you learn about it. Just talking about it and throwing in some scenarios. You’re always thinking about the game.

I’m happy where I’m at; it’s not about me, it really isn’t. It’s about the players. If we know everyday that we, as a staff, put everything into these players then we can have that deep breath after the fact knowing that we got everything done that we needed to accomplish for the day and enhance their knowledge and their talents.”

Barba [on keeping his team paced throughout the season]: “I think you pace yourself out from the beginning, you don’t backload it into August or September where you start giving them days off from BP and the such. You pace it out throughout the season, you have a feel for your players. You understand the road trips they go on and how it affects their body. You give them days off and get a feel for your staff and your players.”

OF’er Torii Hunter Jr.

Torii Hunter Jr. is back with the 66ers after finishing the 2018 season with the team, where he hit .327/.373/.382 in 60 plate appearances. Hunter Jr. has experienced the deepest grinds of the MiLB system, from the purgatory that is extended Spring Training to taking his skills all the way to Spring Training in 2019. Hunter Jr has experienced it all and his baseball knowledge/prowess is all the better for it.

Hunter Jr played football at Notre Dame during his college years while spending a smaller amount of time on baseball with the university. Despite his status as a standout wide receiver he took to signing with the Angels after bring drafted in 2016. Hunter Jr is the type of athlete that absorbs all possible knowledge is surrounded by, which in turn makes is 2019 Spring Training experiences some of his most valuable yet.

Hunter Jr [on his Spring Training experience]: “I feel good, I learned a lot this Spring. About myself, about that game itself. I’m just ready to build on that and carry it into the season.

I was going back and forth between minor league and big league camp, so I wasn’t one of the non-roster invitees. I’m just trying to continue to better my game, promotions [of myself] and everything else isn’t in my power but I can control showing up to the field everyday and how much I put into getting better everyday. That’s one of the things I’m going to focus on, just continuing to get better everyday.” 

Of course one of the things you hear as the son of a prolific Major League star is comparisons to your fathers style of play. While the genetics from Torii Hunter to Torii Hunter Jr have been passed on there also lies the desire to separate oneself from a legacy that is not your own and create your own path. Hunter Jr received a lot of comparisons to his father this past Spring for making multiple highlight reel defensive catches in the outfield. Despite his defensive style of play reminding of his father, Hunter Jr is planning on creating his own legacy.

Hunter Jr: [on comparisons to Torii Hunter]: “I mean it’s kind of hard not to see it with the internet and stuff like that. I get a lot of comparisons, defensively at least, to my to my dad. At the end of the day I’m still trying to come into my own game and become my own person. 

I want to continue to become a better hitter. That’s one of the areas I’ve been working on this offseason. Defense is something I’ve always prided myself on, it came more naturally than hitting did for me. I just want to continue towards becoming a better hitter and progress in that area.

Hunter Jr [on his off-season workouts] “A lot of baseball specific stuff. Not trying to move a ton of weight, but still moving weights and staying potentiated. Trying to build some muscle mass here and there, just trying to continue keeping my body in good shape and making sure it’s not completely torn up by the time I get to Spring (laughs)”

Torii Hunter Jr has appeared in four games through the young 2019 season and has 2 hits and 3 runs alongside 3 BB’s.

IF’er Jordan Zimmerman

Jordan Zimmerman is looking for a big bounce back year after struggling through the 2018 season with the Inland Empire 66ers. Zimmerman has strong, raw talent, the only struggle has been fully accessing those talents.

It’s a classic story of baseball; the young talent with the stuff to get to the bigs, but there is just happens to be something keeping him from fully growing into himself. If you saw him play with the 66ers last year you might have wondered the same thing; he has talent and he has work ethic, but what is missing from this formula?

It’s not the physical tools/approach, it’s the mental approach to the game. Zimmerman swung to the effect of a .231/.268/.388 slash line in 478 Plate Appearances with the 66ers in 2018, a stark contrast to his 2017 numbers of .293/.335/.457 with 9 HR’s in 557 PA’s.

There are a couple of silver linings that show to the true trajectory of his talent as he hit 11 HR’s in 2018 despite an offensively challenged season all around. The fact that he was able to produce more HR’s with far lesser offensive stats show that there is palpable energy with his bat.

Again, the issues don’t stem from physical prowess, it’s the mental game that is key here.

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Zimmerman [on altering his approach]: “One thing I took from the big leaguers [in Spring] was their daily routine, how they presented themselves throughout the day, what they did to prepare for a game. Their mental aspects as to how to react after a bad at-bat. I didn’t take too much regarding the physical aspect, it was more of the mental for me.

That’s a big thing with me, I’ll add too much pressure to myself. Expect too much out of myself. I need to actually keep it AB to AB and just focus on what’s going on during that at-bat. Once it’s over, whether it’s a good at-bat or bad at-bat, I just cancel it and move on to the next thing.

You watch the big league guys and they don’t ever really push the panic button. Over the course of the year they trust what they have done their whole lives and that’s the approach I’m going with this year. Just trust what I’ve done to get here is going to work and it’s gonna continue to work. I’m excited to see how it’ll work out this year.

Last year at third base I feel like I played a little too loose, so hopefully this year I can have a little more focus when the pitch is about to be thrown. I still wanna play loose cause once you tighten up that’s when errors happen. I need to play as loose as possible while staying focused, that’s key for me. When I made errors last year it’s because I wasn’t as locked in to the game at that point.”

Zimmerman [on his plans to stay loose in 2019]: “I’m trusting that everything I did this offseason will work. There may be stretches where I go 0-15 or 0-20, I can’t start changing things like I did last year. I’d push the panic button and freak out a little bit, I’d think “Oh I gotta change something” but this year I’m gonna try to stick to what I’m doing now and continue it through the whole year and trust that what I’ve had success doing in Spring Training is gonna pay off through this whole season.

Early on I wrote down a whole plan with steps cause I did a pretty big swing change for myself mechanically. At this point I have a routine set where I take less swings but more quality swings. My exertion level won’t be as high going into a game. I’m trying to stay healthy the whole year and trying to stay in the present, not worry about the future and what’s going on around me. Just sticking to a routine and doing it.

This year I’m not gonna overload myself with too many swings before the game. Just trust that what I did in this offseason will come out on the field. Last year throughout the whole season I was trying to change stuff, not really trusting what I did in the offseason was gonna work. This season I’m gonna go in and trust what I’ve done is gonna work and not overwork myself”