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BRADENTON Mark McGwire Jersey , Fla. (AP) —on 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 http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , the MVP of the 2006 World Series while playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, 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. DENVER — The Colorado Rockies will begin a crucial 10-game homestand Monday against the San Francisco Giants followed by three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and four against the Arizona Diamondbacks.The Rockies, Dodgers and Diamondbacks are locked in a tight National League West race. Colorado is in second place, a half-game behind the Dodgers and a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks.Winning a second straight game Sunday in San Diego enabled Colorado to salvage a split of a four-game series with the Padres and conclude a 3-3 road trip. The victory also left the Rockies 1 1/2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second NL wild-card spot.Article continues below ...The Rockies are 8-5 against the Giants this season and 5-1 at Coors Field. Left-hander Tyler Anderson (6-7, 4.79 ERA) will start for the Rockies and try to rebound after struggling in August. Left-handed ace Madiso Bumgarner (5-5, 2.68) will start for the Giants.Despite losing five of the past eight games http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , the Rockies have gained a half-game in the standings during that stretch. They are 34-30 at home, including 11-7 since the All-Star break.In the Rockies’ 7-3 win over the Padres on Sunday, key late-game relievers Scott Oberg (2.64 ERA) and Adam Ottavino (2.01) each pitched a scoreless inning. Both have worked in two straight games and three of the past four.After the victory, Rockies manager Bud Black said, ” ‘Otto’ will be down (Monday). Oberg will be down. And the other guys who pitch in relief, if it’s a tight game with the Giants, have to come through for us. That’s what it’s going to take.”Improvement from Anderson could determine whether it’s a tight game. He gave up seven hits and six runs on Aug. 26 against St. Louis and lasted a career-low two-thirds of an inning as the Cardinals romped 12-3.The Rockies pushed back Anderson’s next start, and he will take the mound with seven days’ rest and hoping to improve his wayward command.Anderson went 0-4 with an 11.39 ERA in five August starts and allowed nine homers in 21 1/3 innings along with a .368 batting average and 1.174 OPS by opponents. He has gone nine starts since he last won July 4 when he blanked the Giants on two hits for eight innings at Coors Field.Anderson is 1-2 with a 4.11 ERA in five starts against the Giants, including two this season in which he’s 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA.Bumgarner threw seven shutout innings Tuesday against Atlanta but ended up with a no-decision in the Giants’ 1-0 win. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in six of his past seven starts — the exception when he gave up a season-high five earned runs on Aug. 18 at Cincinnati — going 2-2 with a 2.11 ERA during that stretch while holding opponents to a .199 average and .676 OPS.Bumgarner is 12-8 with a 2.93 ERA in 28 career starts against the Rockies, including 0-1 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts this year. He’s 5-6 with a 3.93 ERA in 14 starts at Coors Field.In the past eight games, the Giants’ starters have a 1.20 ERA (seven earned runs, 52 1/3 innings). But San Francisco has scored three or fewer runs in six of its past nine games.The Giants (68-70) have dropped three of their past four games Paul DeJong Jersey , including the final two of three to the New York Mets after trading right fielder Andrew McCutchen to the New York Yankees for two prospects just before the Aug. 31 trade deadline.The Giants acquired McCutchen last winter. No longer the middle-of-the lineup force he was in Pittsburgh, McCutchen noneheless played regularly for the Giants. But they are mired in fourth place, and with McCutchen eligible for free agency after the season, a trade, while not welcome, made sense.“Contrary to some other general managers, our front office, we don’t necessarily relish the trade deadline and being involved in this,” Giants executive vice president for baseball operations Brian Sabean told the San Jose Mercury News. “You’ve got people going out the door that you’re invested in and you’re never really sure of the return, etc. We all know the drill.”