Hensley Meulens has never coached for the Yankees, but he’s still played a role in the development of one of their best players.
Meulens, who interviewed to become the next Yankees manager on Thursday, has worked with Didi Gregorius in Curacao, where they’re both from, in recent offseasons and helped the lefty-swinging shortstop become more consistent against southpaws.
“Didi came when he was with the Diamondbacks and I would see him in the NL West,” said Meulens, who has coached with the Giants since 2010. “He struggled against lefties.”
Meulens said he gave Gregorius the same advice he gave the Giants’ Brandon Crawford, another shortstop who hits left-handed.
“We had closed Brandon Crawford off from leaking against lefties,” Meulens said during a conference call on Thursday. “Just stay in there and try to hit a line drive over the shortstop. I’m not saying that triggered Didi hitting better against lefties the last few years. Didi is a hard-working guy. He knows what information to take from whom. I hope that was some advice that helped.”
Whatever the reason, Gregorius has hit significantly better versus lefties than when he first came up, and Meulens believes it’s due in part to the program he organizes for approximately 30-40 players in Curacao — both minor and major leaguers.
“They’re all from different organizations, so this just keeps them working on getting better,” Meulens said of the clinics that run three days a week. “They have their own programs, and all we do is facilitate that for them.”