Curtis Granderson’s first contact with Dave Hudgens came over the winter, when the latter was managing in Venezuela.
Hudgens, the Mets hitting coach, requested video of Granderson’s swing, just to get a better sense of what the team’s new $60 million addition to the middle of the lineup was all about. The two periodically talked.
“We physically didn’t see each other, but little things like just talking about hitting and sending him some videos, different things like that,” Granderson said Wednesday before the Mets faced the Cardinals at Citi Field. “So our relationship began before we actually met in person in spring training. It’s begun and will continue to build.”
Granderson is now leaning in part on Hudgens as he attempts to escape a brutal slump to begin his Mets tenure. Granderson broke a career-worst 0-for-22 skid in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals with a first-inning single.
In some ways, it reflects the situation Granderson faced when he arrived to the Yankees in 2010 and hit just .221 over his first month. Granderson relied heavily on Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long to help find the answers and emerged to have a respectable season in which he hit .247 with 24 homers and 67 RBIs. The Mets probably would sign up right now for that kind of season from Granderson.
Hudgens, in his fourth season as Mets hitting coach, welcomes the challenge of trying to help resurrect a veteran player.
“[Granderson] is not tough to work with,” Hudgens said. “He’s very professional and wants information. Older players are set in what they do. What we try to do is go back to when he’s had success and make sure he’s doing the same kind of things and not trying to really change anything. Just get him back to where he feels right to where he was when he was having success.”
Hudgens has mostly watched video of Granderson’s at-bats in 2012 and compared them to the present. Last year’s at-bats haven’t been as thoroughly analyzed because Granderson missed most of the season recovering from a broken wrist and broken finger.
“When you’re getting hits and you get some confidence rolling, you take the right pitches and you swing at the right pitches,” Hudgens said. “He’s always struck out a little bit, so that’s something he’s always done, but he shouldn’t be missing his pitch.”
Granderson said he has not sought advice from his former mentor Long.
“[Long’s] focus is on his team and my focus is over here,” Granderson said. “Unless we’re getting a chance to play each other, that’s when you turn your attention to your opponent and say, ‘What have guys been doing?’ and ‘These are their tendencies’ and obviously that hasn’t happened.”
Granderson said the video of his at-bats from 2012 show minor differences in his hands’ positioning and how his swing finishes.
But Hudgens said he wants Granderson to concentrate less on mechanics and more on comfort at the plate.
“We work quite a bit together, every day,” Hudgens said. “He’s great with his routine, and he’s an incredible worker. That’s why I’m confident he’ll come out of it.
“It’s tough here because of the situation he’s in. He’s a guy we need to go. I keep telling him we only have 140 games left. ‘We have a lot of games left, if you were hitting .260 and this happened in June, nobody would even notice.’ ”