John Mallee

By Brian T. Smith

March 3, 2013

BRADENTON, Fla. – John Mallee won the job before the decision was made.

When the Astros were searching during the offseason for a hitting coach to pair with a young club loaded with prospects and mid-level pros who had yet to peak, Mallee strode into his interview filled with inside information. He had a vision for where he could take Astros hitters, building off 10 seasons spent with the Marlins, including a 2010-11 stint as hitting coach.
“He was the most prepared by far,” Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said. Mallee got the gig. He hasn’t looked back. As soon as Mallee, a Chicago native, joined the Astros, he linked up with as many players as possible, listening as they described their strengths and weaknesses inside the batter’s box while watching video.

Mallee, 43, is anti-cookie cutter approach and believes each hitter swings a specific way for a reason. Mallee believes in learning as much as possible about a player’s past, watching the swing up close, then gradually tweaking the approach if he observes a hole in the player’s attack.

“I have to learn these guys,” Mallee said. “So it’s a lot of conversations, a lot of one-on-one meetings to see what they think they need to work on. That gives me an avenue to go and see if mechanically there’s anything wrong.”

Plenty to study

Brett Wallace, batting .438 this spring, says hitting coach John Mallee is devoted to his craft. Scott Cunningham, Stringer Brett Wallace, batting .438 this spring, says hitting coach John Mallee is devoted to his craft.

With 61 players competing for 25 opening-day spots, Mallee was initially overloaded with background work and observations. But he’s attempting to improve the Astros long-term, and his short-range effect is impressive.

After 10 exhibition games, the Astros ranked second out of 30 teams in on-base plus slugging percentage (.920) and home runs (15) while placing third in hits (105), RBIs (62), walks (43) and runs (65).

Not even upbeat manager Bo Porter is ready to call the Astros 2013 American League West contenders. And the club has yet to prove it’s any better than a light-hitting squad that ranked 30th in the majors last season in RBIs (545) and 29th in OPS (.673) and batting average (.236).

But many of Mallee’s adjustments could stick around when the games count. The Astros are more aggressive on the first pitch while picking their spots once an at-bat begins, and batters are driving more pitches. The Astros aren’t overswinging, leading to everything from stolen-base opportunities to two-out RBIs.

For all of Mallee’s instructional expertise and frame-by-frame philosophies, corner infielder Brett Wallace – who made key offseason swing changes based on Mallee’s suggestions – pointed out what many Astros said is the coach’s primary attribute: devotion.

“He’s got a lot of passion for hitting, obviously,” Wallace said. “He’s a guy that’s going to be in there early, and he studies every swing we take. He gets a lot of video on you so he can study your swing and break it down, so when you get in to work with him, it’s not about just generic adjustments.

“He’s got a sincere understanding of your swing.”

Mallee divides instruction into three formats: verbal, visual and feel. He’s paired with assistant hitting coach Dan Radison to reach hitters while utilizing advanced metrics provided by senior technical architect Ryan Hallahan and the club’s analytics staff.

Organization meets

And on the Astros’ first spring training off day Wednesday, Mallee will meet with the minor league instructors to strengthen the club’s pipeline.

“Our curriculum is top-down driven, and he’s the top,” Luhnow said. “It shows you how much he cares and how much we’re on the same page.”