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BRADENTON http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-nick-markakis-jersey , Fla. (AP) — Some Pittsburgh Pirates were upset when Jeff Branson was fired at the end of last season after six years with the team.It helps that new hitting coach Rick Eckstein is off to a smooth start in spring training.“I like him a lot,” right fielder Gregory Polanco said. “He knows a lot about hitting but he explains what he’s thinking to you in a way that’s easy to understand. I think he’s really going to help our whole team.”The Pirates’ offense was 19th in the major leagues last season with an average of 4.3 runs a game and 25th with 157 home runs.Manager Clint Hurdle believes by using a blend of analytics and video technology that Eckstein and new assistant hitting coach Jacob Cruz can squeeze more out of the offense in 2019.“I think we’ve really put two new men for us into place that have their finger on the pulse of the offensive game,” said Hurdle, who was a hitting coach with the Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers. “They’re more proactive than reactive. Sometimes you don’t get results and a new voice can have an impact.“The research both of these guys did as we went through the interview process, the experience they’ve had with analytics, with new technology, with new ways to measure, with new ways to instruct, with new ways to teach, it all just seemed like the perfect combination for us.”Eckstein spent the last two years as the Minnesota Twins’ minor league hitting coordinator. He was the Washington Nationals’ hitting coach from 2008-13.Eckstein is spending this spring learning the hitters’ strengths and weaknesses. He is tailoring individual plans to each player rather than trying to make them adhere to one philosophy.“That’s where our head is, as far as taking this thing forward,” Eckstein said. “We’re tapping into each guy to reach more of their potential and play as a unit where we’re all on the same page.”The older brother of David Eckstein, the MVP of the 2006 World Series while playing for the St. Louis Cardinals Brandon McCarthy Jersey , is a proponent of technology. However, he believes communicating with the hitters is paramount.“Our focus is a little bit more on a ground-floor level of timing and positioning and understanding that there are certain areas of the hitting area that we need to be really good,” Eckstein said. “There’s a difference between the strike zone and the hitting area, and within that there are contact points that are optimal contact points, and there are contact points that are sub-optimal.“If we understand that everybody has a downward plane of their swing and everybody has an upward plane of their swing, where does that play for you?”NOTES: INF/OF Alfredo Reyes was moved from the minor league camp to the major league camp Saturday as a non-roster invitee. He played at three levels of the minors last season, finishing at Triple-A Indianapolis. . The Pirates continue to list C Elias Diaz as week to week because of a virus. The team hasn’t provided any further details. Opening day was particularly special for Fernando Tatis Jr. and Eloy Jimenez.In large part because they weren’t stuck at El Paso and Charlotte.It’s common for baseball’s top prospects to spend a bit of time in the minors at the beginning of the season, but the Padres and White Sox put Tatis and Jimenez on the roster this year, and they made their big league debuts Thursday. Tatis, a shortstop, had two hits in San Diego’s win over San Francisco . Jimenez, an outfielder, had a run and an RBI in Chicago’s loss to Kansas City .Jimenez hit .355 in 55 games at Triple-A Charlotte last year http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-nick-markakis-jersey , and shortly before the start of this season, he signed a $43 million, six-year contract — a record high for a player under club control who hadn’t yet appeared in a major league game.So it was no surprise to see Jimenez in the majors right away. Tatis’ situation was different. Delaying a player’s service time for a few weeks can delay potential free agency down the road, and Tatis hadn’t played above Double-A. But instead of sending him to Triple-A El Paso, the Padres brought him right to the majors.“I told my dad, my head was in the minor leagues,” Tatis said. “If they sent me down, I was not surprised. If they called me up, it was going to be a big surprise.”Tatis, who turned 20 on Jan. 2, became the youngest player to start on opening day since 19-year-old Adrian Beltre in 1999. He became the youngest player with a multihit game on opening day since Robin Yount in 1975.Tatis is ranked as the game’s No. 2 prospect by mlb.com, behind only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The debate about whether Guerrero should start the season with the Toronto Blue Jays or in the minors became moot when he went down with a strained left oblique.ALREADY?It didn’t take long for some position players to take the mound this year.The circumstances this time: The Dodgers and Diamondbacks played a 13-inning marathon Friday night that lasted over six hours. On Saturday, Los Angeles beat Arizona 18-5 Jose Ramirez Jersey , with Diamondbacks catcher John Ryan Murphy giving up seven runs in two innings of relief. Dodgers catcher Russell Martin also pitched, retiring the side in the ninth on 10 pitches.ALL OR NOTHINGThere’s been plenty of talk over the past few years about baseball becoming a game of home runs and strikeouts, and the very early returns in 2019 indicate nothing is changing in that regard. So far, 23.2 percent of all plate appearances have resulted in a strikeout, and 3.3 percent have resulted in a homer.The numbers last season were 22.3 and 3.0.HIGHLIGHTLorenzo Cain robbed Jose Martinez of a tying home run for the final out of Milwaukee’s 5-4 win over St. Louis on opening day. Martinez’s pinch-hit drive nearly cleared the wall in right-center, but Cain brought the ball back, giving the Brewers the victory.LINE OF THE WEEKWhile much of the focus was on Bryce Harper and Manny Machado as they began playing for the Phillies and Padres, Paul Goldschmidt got off to quite a start with the Cardinals. Goldschmidt, who was traded from Arizona to St. Louis in the offseason, homered three times in a 9-5 win over Milwaukee on Friday night.Goldschmidt was denied a chance at a fourth home run when he was intentionally walked in the ninth inning.