For Rod Barajas, it seems like he can’t stop playing the father figure. At home, he and his wife Stacie have seven kids, four boys and three girls. At the ballpark, Barajas continues to be the guy who is looked up to as he is the oldest player on the active roster. Despite his big league pedigree, Barajas went through a cold streak in April hitting just .143, something you wouldn’t expect from a 14-year veteran. However with one swing off of Washington Nationals closer Henry Rodriguez and a little help from the “Zoltan” sign from “Dude Where’s My Car”, Barajas has regained his form.
You may have noticed that the Pirates from time to time, will make a “Z” with their thumbs and pointer fingers. It first came to notice after Barajas’s walk-off home run against the Nats.
“It was just something we decided to have fun with,” Barajas said of the sign. “When we first started it, Tabby (Jose Tabata) was swinging the bat well and it’s just something we are having fun with. Hopefully it keeps going, hopefully I keep swinging the bat well and hopefully it brings us some lucky.”
Call it the power of the Zoltan or just call it a coincidence as Barajas does, but he has been on fire since the walk-off hitting .343 (12-35) which included an eight-game hitting streak that was ended Wednesday against the Mets. Barajas said he made some adjustments in his swing during his hitting streak.
“I’m not too sure what my longest one (hitting streak) is,” Barajas said. “I haven’t had anything too crazy so it wouldn’t be a number that’s too long (Barajas had a 12-game hitting streak in 2004). We’ve done a lot of work and have a daily routine. Right now we are trying to stay short and through the ball. When I struggled, I have the tendency to have a long swing and a little loop. I’m trying to stay short and let my hands to all the work.”
As has been the main story of the Pirates season, the offense has been very bad and is on pace to break records for the worst offense of all-time. The fans have been rough on the Pirates, primarily Barajas in the first month of the season and Clint Barmes now. According to Barmes however, he feels he deserves is.
“I hear the boos, but I think I’ve earned that from the fans,” Barmes said. “I still believe we can turn this around, we have too much talent not to.”
Even though athletes will often say they don’t pay attention to the media or the fans criticisms, Barajas said he heard it, but didn’t let it get to him.
“You never want to hear your home team getting on you,” Barajas said. “At the same time, I knew it was a month into the season and I had a lot of season left to go. I knew sooner rather than later, things were going to get back to normal and I was going to swing the bat normal.”
Barajas said the fans have a right to boo and with them getting paid the money that they do, they know it comes with the territory.
“They can do whatever they want to do and I’m not going to let that get me down or get my moral down,” Barajas said. “You’ve got to be strong mentally and I think that’s a big part of why we get paid the money we do. It’s a tough business and you just have to go out there and work hard.”
Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle is happy with the way that his catcher has turned it around for the team.
“It’s reconnecting with his swing,” Hurdle said. “It’s probably two or three Sundays ago when he had an off-day that he just went back to the cage. We tried to give him a feel for his swing path and tried to show him that I thought it was a little bit out of sorts. I told him also we need to simplify his routine. He took ownership of some of the things I asked him to do and he put that in play now everyday. He’s seemed to find a much better contact point and I hope it gets catchy.”
Despite the early struggles, Barajas knew what his main responsibility was and was to help out the young pitching staff and mentor his backup catcher Michael McKenry.
“As a catcher, that was the first thing I was taught when I came into pro ball that is you aren’t swinging the bat well, you can’t take the offense out with you when you are playing defense,” Barajas said. “You have to make sure that your mind is 100 percent on what your job is, which is working with the pitchers. That’s how I’ve always played the game, so even when I did have my struggles, swinging the bat was secondary to me. I had to make sure I was there for my team and for my pitchers.”
McKenry, who was one of eight catchers used by the Pirates last year, said having the veteran Barajas around has helped him out a lot.
“Absolutely he has helped me,” McKenry said. “He has had a long time in the big leagues and that’s a lot of information. He’s a good guy to keep your mouth shut and ears open. He’s pretty responsive.”
While McKenry has learned a lot, it’s the young pitchers that have taken full advantage of Barajas. One of them being former 2006 first-round pick Brad Lincoln.
“For any pitcher, to have a veteran back there that knows the game and knows a lot of hitters, it’s comforting knowing that he has a pretty good idea of how to pitch a guy and it makes you believe in yourself a little more,” Lincoln said. “With a veteran, he knows what I’m thinking and I know what he’s thinking. If you’re on the same page, there isn’t much confusion there. To take your mind off a lot of things other than making the pitch is what pitchers live on.”
Catchers usually work with starting pitcher, but Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan said that Barajas has helped him out as well.
“It’s nice to have a steady backstop back there,” Hanrahan said. “He’s a big target and has been around a long time. He does a lot with the starters, especially with James McDonald. I think everyone enjoys working with him.”
While Andrew, Bryce, Rod Jr., Jace, Aunalilia, Aubrielle and Starlette keep Rod Barajas the dad busy at home, his father-like advice reaches his Pirates family as well.
Photo credits: Associated Press
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