Player Journal: Hirsh attacks performance drop

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Hello and welcome back to my journal. Thanks for tuning in. This week I'm going to get back to baseball and an aspect of the game that some people don't get to see. This is something that I have gone through this year and many players around baseball go through every year.

I'm talking about being in a slump, and more specifically, from a pitcher's point of view.

Up until a few starts ago, I had been struggling this season. That is something that I do not like to say, but facts are facts, I was struggling.

I was having difficulty locating my pitches, especially my fastball, which is my bread and butter. I tried everything I could remember to remedy the problem and nothing I could think of worked. Some pitches were perfect, others were way off. I lacked consistency, which is the name of the game at this level.

Fortunately for me, I have several sets of eyes to watch my bullpens and my games, and they can all contribute to helping remedy my problems. After my second outing, I approached my pitching coach and told him that I felt like my mind and body were not working in unison. My mechanics and my motion felt very clunky and out of sync. I tried working out some solutions in my next few bullpens with some moderate success. I looked at video and pictures, and even talked with my fellow pitchers to see if they could see anything. I took all this feedback to my bullpens and finally one day I came up with a solution.

The solution I came up with is something that I have often been told has been done by other guys to get out of their slumps. I told myself that in my next outing I was going to stop trying to be so cute around the plate and just attack the strike zone with my fastball, and let the results be what they may.

Sure enough, I attacked the zone, found my control and had my best outing of the year. I've taken the same mentality into my starts since then, and suddenly I've found the success I had been looking for since the beginning of the year.

My example of a slump is not uncommon in baseball. We all have our ups and downs. As in my case, pitchers especially can make things seem too difficult when, in fact, all they have to do is keep it simple. This is a very valuable lesson for me because I had not been through a struggle like this in quite awhile. I had put too much pressure on myself to perform and in the process made something simple into something very difficult.

Being able to keep focused during the tough times is also a very difficult thing. I have always had the mentality that there are ups and downs and when you feel like you're at the lowest of lows there is only one way to go, and that is up. I know that in order to advance my career to the Major League level, I'm going to have to make adjustments like that and do some problem-solving of my own.

Slumps are no fun when you're in them, and it takes some serious mental dedication to keep a positive attitude and be able to climb out quickly. This is something that I believe every player in the Major Leagues goes through, but it's the players who can problem-solve quickly and efficiently who become successful big leaguers.

That's all I have this time around. Thanks again for tuning in, and once more, if you have any questions or comments, please email me at [email protected].

One more quick shout out: please feel free to check out www.hirshbrothers.com. This is a website my brother put together. It is regularly updated with stats, pictures and more.

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In your profession, it must be tough to live in different cities every few years. What would you classify as one of the hardest parts of your profession? It's occurred to me after following different players over the years that one could be living all over the country. As for relationships and family life, that could make things difficult. -- Sabrina M.

You are very correct, Sabrina. Travel is by far one of the hardest parts of being a professional ballplayer. Personally, I'm from Southern California and unfortunately for me, all of Houston's Minor League affiliates are located either in Texas or on the East Coast. The closest I have played to home in the past three years has been in Portland, Ore. My family has not seen a whole lot of my professional career thus far, but they have been fortunate enough to make it out for at least one week every season and get to see me throw.

How do you handle all your fan mail? -- Janette J.

I have received this same question quite frequently since my last article. I do try to answer all the fan mail I receive from the post office. Once again, going back to my last Journal, the same standards apply: Don't send 50 cards for me to sign; be realistic.

How important a part does a clubhouse manager play in your day-to-day life at the ballpark? I hear that your home clubhouse manager in Round Rock, and even the visiting clubhouse manager in Iowa, are among the best. How big a part do these clubhouse guys play in your baseball career, both at home and on the road? -- Paulie, Kissimmee, Fla.

Clubhouse managers play very important roles in our daily lives at a ballpark. They take care of everything from laundry to mail to meals. The better clubbies are able to manage their time efficiently, feed their players, take care of equipment and make sure everyone is happy. I think our clubbie in Round Rock is one of the best in all of Minor League Baseball and I've been told so by many other players, some of whom have been to the big leagues and not seen better.