“That was the most difficult part. I’d never been anywhere else. Walla Walla [Washington, Class-A Padres] isn’t exactly close to West Virginia.”

In 1981 he played in 63 games for Walla Walla, hitting .242 with 13 RBI and 56 walks.  He moved through the ranks at a good pace, spending 1982 at Advanced-A Reno, then 1983 at Double-A Beaumont. He started 1984 with the Triple-A Las Vegas Stars and spent that season and all of 1985 there. After playing six games for the Stars in 1986, he made his major league debut for the Padres

“Getting used to seeing good pitching everyday was also difficult. In high school you’re seeing maybe one good pitcher maybe all season. In junior college, maybe one good pitcher a week or every two weeks. They’re throwing harder and they’ve got more movement on the ball.”

Upon being called up Kruk was hitting .464 and appeared ready to hit major league pitching. But he needed veteran leadership and got it.

Padres teammate Tony Gwynn made a huge impact on Kruk. A particular piece of hitting advice came when Kruk was trying to work through the kinks as a rookie.

“He said if you hit to the left, you’re driving a Mercedes. If you try hitting it to right, you’ll be driving a Pinto. I learned how to hit from him. I learned how to hit in a lot of different situations. I wanted to see what he was seeing.”

The biggest issue for many a young hitter proved to be challenging for Kruk as well.

“I had to learn patience. And it was the first time I wasn’t playing everyday.”

Kruk was a natural hitter and he attributes that to an old-fashioned approach to learn hitting growing up.

“We didn’t have no hitting guy from the age of  six years old. We just hit to hit. And it’s the way I’m teaching my kids, especially in golf. I tell them to figure out a way to get the ball in the hole. That’s the way I was with hitting. I figured out a way to hit. I’d done that my whole life. They ruin kids today with these hitting gurus.”

He went on to have a ten-year career with the Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, and, briefly, the Chicago White Sox, where he retired in 1996. It was just announced that he was chosen to be inducted to the Phillies Wall Of Fame.

In 2000 he returned to baseball as manager of the Double-A Reading Phillies. The experience was eye-opening and not at all what he expected.

“I was told, here’s the prospects and you can’t coach them.”

Kruk explains that teams then and today are controlled by concerns about agents who want to protect their clients.

“Agents are potentially destroying baseball. They are ruining it. Because you have teams who want to call agents and see if they improve something with one of their players and then they want to go back to the player and discuss it with him. ”

At the time he was with Reading, Marlon Byrd was the Phillies top hitting prospect and was struggling at the plate early in the season. Kruk recalls the frustration Byrd felt with Kruk’s lack of involvement.

“Marlon came to me and asked me when I was going to work with him. I told him that I’d love to, but explained why I wasn’t. He said to me, “This is my career.” And after that we spent a lot of time together.

He finds the changes in baseball baffling, despite the obvious influence of money.

“You can’t discipline them anymore. I don’t know where we got away from the game and how it should be played. It’s like you have to get a political pardon to work these top young players.”

But it isn’t just today. Kruk recalls what teammate Kevin McReynolds went through with the Padres.

“He was a top pick and they tried to treat him with kid gloves. And he didn’t wnat that. It really upset him. They wanted him to DH [McReynolds was an outfielder] and be really careful because of an injury he’d had. Today, it’s worse. I know for a fact you can’t coach prospects now. That’s why as a coach it was so frustrating. I can’t take a .200 hitter and make him a .300 hitter. I can’t do it. No one can. It was awful.”

It isn’t surprising that the popular ESPN analyst has no new designs on a minor league baseball coaching career. However, his competitive spirit and love of teaching still exists.

“If I were to do anything it would be to coach college baseball or women’s softball. I love the way those girls play the game.  They love it. And it would be fun.”

Of those four inexperienced players, Nick Stavinoha owns the only respectable batting average, going 3-for-10 for a .300 mark. Joe Mather, Allen Craig, and Bryan Anderson have recorded lines of .188, .056, and .167, respectively in limited action.

The statistics suggest just one thing: these players need to receive regular playing time to improve. How is that possible, you might ask? About 243 miles east of St. Louis as the crow flies, happens to be the home of the Triple-A affiliate Memphis Redbirds.

Craig, just 1-for-18 on the young season could benefit astronomically from a stint back down in the minors. Sending Mather down to correct his swing wouldn’t be the worst thing, either. They have both looked pretty lost in the majority of their at-bats, despite performing at a solid level last season in Memphis.

If one of those three is sent down to the minor-league club, then who would come up? Enter Jon Jay. The 25-year-old product of Miami (FL) had an adequate batting average of .281 (142 hits in 505 at-bats) last season for the Redbirds. The left-fielder, however, has seemingly found his groove during the 2010 season. In 16 games, Jay’s line of .368/.442/.574 has most certainly grabbed the attention of the big-club’s executives.

In my opinion, when the production off the bench is essentially non-existent, a change must be made. What better way than to give a player like Jay a chance to show his skills at the most elite level possible. He is currently fifth in batting average in Triple-A, while putting up some gaudy numbers in two important categories: hitting right-handed and with runners on-base. In his 49 at-bats as a RH hitter, he has 22 hits for a .449 average. More impressively, however, are his eight hits in just 17 at-bats with runners-on-base. Moreover, he is six-for-12 with runners in scoring position, tallying nine RBI in the process.

The Cardinals’ offensive deficiencies aren’t likely to be fixed anytime soon, especially without making a move. Calling up Jay, while not a definite solution to the Cardinals’ woes, would perhaps unveil potential in a player that could help the big-club for years to come.

While it doesn’t take a genius to find a lineup riddled with hitting issues, maybe a punitive 5’11” left-handed outfielder residing in the 901 area code can inject a charge back into an otherwise lifeless bench.

Ben Weixlmann contributes Cardinal coverage here on BaseballDigest.com frequently.
You can follow Ben on Twitter by clicking here.

After years of sampling various products designed to improve hitting, Rob realized there wasn’t anything on the market that would both teach players the proper swing while also increasing strength and muscle memory. To fill this void, he created the VIZUBAT, a unique training device which offers both strength training and improved technique, while helping the hitter visualize successful contact.

Two-time A.L. MVP and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame Robin Yount calls it “the best tool I’ve seen for visualization and strength training. It teaches you to hit the ball properly”

Several sports psychologists have conducted research studies on the professional and non-professional athlete. They proved that when the act of “visualizing success in the sport” occurs, it would contribute to actual success and improvement of their performance skills.

The VIZUBAT visually trains the batter to correctly hit the pitch that covers all areas of the strike zone.

I BELIEVE IN THE VIZUBAT HITTING DEVICE SO MUCH THAT, NOT ONLY ARE MY THREE SONS USING IT, BUT I AM ENDORSING THE PRODUCT TO BE INTRODUCED TO OUR MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYERS,” says Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett.

The VIZUBAT can be used for everything from loosening up in the on-deck circle, to batting-tee drills, to soft-toss drills. It will train the young and the old ballplayer to keep their head and eyes down, on and through contact.

“VIZUBAT’ IS DEFINITELY A DEVICE THAT MAJOR LEAGUE, LITTLE LEAGUE, AND ALL LEVELS OF SOFTBALL CAN BENEFIT FROM, BOTH YOUNG AND OLD!” – Hall Of Fame outfielder and eight-time Batting champ Tony Gwynn.

I had a chance to sit down with Rob Deer for a little Q&A session.

BD : How did you come up with the idea for the VIZUBAT?

Rob Deer : I started by duck-taping a ball to the sweet spot on a bat, cause it was the best way that I could think of to help the players “see” what I was trying to teach them.

BD : So, why the VIZUBAT? Why doesn’t everyone just tape a ball to a bat?

Rob Deer : There is more to the VIZUBAT than just seeing the ball on the bat. The product offers skill and drill training that you can’t get from a ball taped to a bat.

BD : Like what?

Rob Deer : I designed two attachments for the bat. The first is a flat-capped ball for use in tee work and soft-toss. The second is a full ball for use in the on-deck circle.

BD : So, the batter actually hits a ball off the tee with the flat-capped ball? Is it strong enough to handle the contact?

Rob Deer : You bet! We have major league players using the bat every day in their hitting drills. By incorporating the VIZUBAT in tee work a player will be able to see how they are contacting the ball and why.

BD : It sounds like hitters will be able to correct their swing quicker because they can see what they are doing wrong. Is that right?

Rob Deer : Yes. I am not trying to teach a hitting philosophy. Players have hitting coaches for that. The VIZUBAT is a tool that simply gives a visual representation of where and how contact with the ball is made. Hitters are better able to see and to adjust their grip as well as to see where to make contact with a ball in all areas of the strike zone.

BD : How is the VIZUBAT different than other training tools?

Rob Deer : The VIZUBAT is different from other tools because there is nothing on the market that helps develop three key factors in young and old, male or female hitters. The VIZUBAT helps you understand and get a feel for pitches in the strike zone and the correct approach to hitting them properly. The VIZUBAT creates correct habits naturally during tee and soft-toss drills by visualizing keeping your head down on and through contact, as well as focusing on hitting the ball repetitively on the sweet spot of the bat. With the VIZUBAT’S Patented steel shot weighted bags, you can naturally build strength by adjusting how heavy you want the round ball during warm-up, weight training drills, or just practicing your swing. The VIZUBAT allows you to build strength naturally that is conducive to your swing.

BD : How long before people start seeing results from using the bat?

Rob Deer : I’ve seen swings change within three swings off of a tee. I’ve found that younger players catch on faster than older players! I’ve had Major League players take ten swings to catch on, while I’ve had Little Leaguers square up nine outta ten off the tee. I want people to understand that this isn’t designed to be a quick fix gimmick. The key to being a good hitter is repetition of proper swings that build a foundation that lasts as long as his or her playing days! The VIZUBAT does this naturally.

BD : What is the biggest benefit you’ve seen from people who use the VIZUBAT?

Rob Deer : I think the biggest benefit is when I see the young players understand and get the feel of squaring up a ball off the tee because they are doing what I consider to be the biggest factor of all – keeping your head down on and through contact. You can’t hit what you can’t see! Observing how the VIZUBAT gets young players to do this consistently through repetition is great!

BD : So, how much better of a hitter would you have been in the Majors if you had a tool like this?

Rob Deer : Me? Not much better. (laughing) I had already developed my habits by then. It would have made a big difference if I had a tool like this in Little League or High School. I teach hitting differently now than how I hit in the Majors. I was a dead-pull hitter. The VIZUBAT teaches a hitter how to use the whole field; how to contact a ball that is inside, middle of the plate, or outside.

BD : Many big leaguers are using the bat and saying good things about it. What have you seen with those using it at the lower levels (high school, little league, etc.)?

Rob Deer : I recently spent time with over 300 high school players at a camp at Stanford University. The coaches at Stanford run an elite program and were kind enough to invite me to work with some of the kids. You should have seen the kids’ eyes light up as they used the VIZUBAT during tee work? Their bat speed increased and they were hitting solid line drives off the tee. Some of the boys asked if I would put a bat in the on-deck circle during their game. It was fun to watch them use the bat in the on-deck circle and then make solid contact with the ball during the game.

BD : Now is the VIZUBAT just for baseball players or can softball players use it as well?

Rob Deer : Absolutely! The VIZUBAT is just as effective for softball players. That’s why we offer a softball version. Although the trajectory of a softball pitch is different from baseball, it is still a matter of contact point. “See ball hit ball” applies to both. This is why Vicky Galindo endorses the VIZUBAT and has experienced so much success, as well as many travel ball teams.

BD : So, what’s next for VIZUBAT?

Rob Deer : Well, getting the word out and letting everyone know about this training tool. Soon there will be an infomercial on the MLB Network in the form of a mock hitting clinic. We have found that seeing first-hand in a live demo how the VIZUBAT is used really helps hitters understand the value of this amazing tool. In fact, it’s great to see how the Major League players have responded to the VIZUBAT. The real fun, though, is in working with youngsters. I enjoy using the VIZUBAT to help them develop as hitters and to develop a passion for the game.

BD : So, how do I get one?

Rob Deer : Right now they are available online at www.vizubat.com or through Brett Brothers Bat catalogue. Soon they will be available in retail stores.

BD : Well, you have some big names backing the VIZUBAT – both current and former players. I wish you the best.

Rob Deer : Thanks.

Some of the greatest hitters in MLB history have benefitted from the VIZUBAT – so whether you are an experienced hitter or are just picking up a bat for the first time, it’s your turn to see how the VIZUBAT can help you.