Drew Saylor, a native of Wadsworth Ohio, and 13th round draft pick of the Florida Marlins in 2006 out of Kent State University was named the Baseball America 2018 Minor League Manager of the Year. After a five year playing career and coaching stops at the college level and in the player development system for the Colorado Rockies, Saylor managed the Class A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers) to 87 wins and a 52-18 second half record in route to a Cal League championship in 2018. In December the Pittsburgh Pirates hired Saylor as Assistant Minor League Hitting Coordinator and Manager of the West Virginia Black Bears their Class A Short Season Affiliate.

In our first installment of the PBR SC Coaches Corner, we sit down to talk with Drew about his career and some of his takes on what makes players in todays game successful.

 

Q. Briefly discuss your 2018 campaign in Rancho Cucamonga? The 87 wins, 52-18 record in the second half, the league championship, and the BA Minor League Manager of the Year.

A.  An incredible journey.  In any season of life, you have ups and downs, but what made this season so special was the people and our culture.  On May 15^th, we made a decision to not let negativity and condescending attitudes in our clubhouse and in our minds.  Collectively, we wanted to view each day through a positive lens and encourage one another.  We know that to be constantly in a competitive environment, players (and staff) need to feel supported when they don’t have success.  It’s what constantly keeps us on the edge of our performance curve.  I think that our paper success was a direct result of this ideal and everyone was rowing the boat in the same direction, same efficiency.

 

Q. What would you say set your team apart in 2018? What was the “secret to success”?

A.  Two things set us apart from the field was being elite preparers and the willingness to be uncommon.  We had a mantra for the year called “Let’s Get Weird”.  Now we know that comes from a TV sitcom show on Comedy Central, but our WHY was rooted in the identity that success is an uncommon occurrence.  If we wanted to see how far we all could go; we had to be willing to be different from everyone else.  That came in our prep work to the advance scouting process and eventually how we played the game (which we deemed to embody “fast and free”).

 

Q. What excites you the most about your new role with the Pirates? 

A.  I think it’s exciting on multiple fronts.  First, getting to work for an organization that has congruent values to myself is motivating.  Second, their mantra of wanting to improve the person through Pirate baseball really struck a cord with me.  I feel they have some really dynamic departments that will help me grow not only as a teacher, but as a husband, father, and friend.   Third, the diversity of the role.  Being able to learn and work  with people like Rick Eckstein, Jacob Cruz, and Kevin Young is a dream scenario.

 

Q. Over the course of a career there are so many external factors that influence us and our paths to success. What would you say the greatest influences of your career to this point have been?  

A.  Wow, there has been so many people that have helped and impacted me along the way.  To say that there was just one would be very difficult, but I would say at every life phase that I’ve gone through; God has placed people in my life to be encouragers, accountability partners and leaders.  From my parents to my wife, my HS baseball coach to the many mentors through the game.  So many people have helped me along in this journey.  Even my “wrong decisions or missteps” turned out to be the correct one when you grow older.

 

Q. How have your ideas of success and failure evolved since your time as a high school player through your college and professional playing days and to this point of your career as a manager?

A.  Dramatically would be an understatement.  I think I was caught up in worldly success as a player.  I also tended to overvalue a resume vs the knowledge I was trying to attain.  As I’ve matured in my life, I’ve put a high premium on trying to stay curious.  Hopefully, I can look back at my journey and always feel I’m evolving.  It’s a funny way to say it, for me, “You don’t know that you don’t know until you know that you don’t know”.  It’s the best way for me to articulate how I view the world, but it allows me to have empathy and patience towards others.

 

Q. As a minor league manager you see players from a variety of backgrounds what is the one thing that the most successful players all have in common?

A.  The willingness to do uncommon things.  Examples are the following: diving into the data, being willing to challenge your beliefs and methodologies, making your practice more game-like, willing to do what’s right even if you are the only one, not just saying your standards, but living them.  Those are a few of those traits, but it goes back to the willingness to be uncommon.

 

Q. Mental Preparation, Physical Preparation, Skill Level, Coaching/Managing, Attitude/Effort - Place these in order from most important to least important and give us a brief reason why.

A.  Attitude/Effort:  Everyone can do it, but few are willing to do this every day.  It’s such an uncommon trait with people and it sticks out like a sore thumb when you see someone that does this daily.  It also isn’t a God-given trait, you can train yourself to be this way.  You can have other worldly skills and still achieve your goals, but you are talking about the best 1%.  Other people can have below average skill, but possess this tool and can have a very joyful journey.

Mental Preparation: The fear of the unknown deters us from our goals and causes anxiety.  Knowing what you are about to encounter or even verbalizing all known outcomes can liberate yourself to go and perform.

Physical Preparation:  All things related to your physical being can be put into this category.  Workouts, practice, sprints, run club, meditation, yoga, etc.  All is vital to make sure we are the strongest we can be in our performance.

 Coaching/Managing:  It does help to have knowledgeable coaches, but their ability to be positive and encouraging outweighs the knowledge one possesses.  If they cannot speak your language or have too rigid philosophy or if you physically cannot do what they are asking, then the teacher has to adapt.  Again, that is a very lengthy process to go through, but when teaching, we need to have versatile language and the willingness to turn over any stone to help players grow.

Skill Level: You want to play at a competitive level that is suited for you.  You don’t want to be in such a tough league that you cannot have some type of success nor do you want to play in a cupcake league where you are the best by a wide delta.

 

Q. What advice do you give to new prospects when you meet them for the first time?

A.  Be on time, respect the game, respect our family (that also includes yours), respect the game.  Be curious.

 

Q. With an increase in the use of technology, metrics, analytics, defensive shifts, etc. what is your opinion on the evolution of the game?

A. I think data gets a bad rap because of a multitude of factors.  First, when we “go with our gut”, we are going on information that is from past experiences.  That is DATA.  We do utilize numbers to help sharpen the picture of what we are seeing with our eyes.  I believe it’s a balance of both qualitative and quantitative information, but we also need to realize that we have pieces of tech and information that we don’t have to guess anymore.  We can objectively point to what is happening and help a player learn faster.

 

Q. What is the most crucial part in the development of today’s player? 

A.  Being sympathetic towards the world they live in.  I didn’t get my first computer until I was a freshman in college.  We had a break from negative comments, adolescent egos, and sharp criticism.  Today, our player’s don’t get that reprieve from 3pm-7am Monday to Friday.  They get it 24-7, 365.  Having the ability to connect with them, help share in some of their sadness and frustration and just being there for them will go a long way.  They need that positive influencer to help them in their journey.

 

Thanks for your time and best of luck in 2019!