CLEVELAND, Ohio — Guardians run production coordinator Jason Esposito has had a busy start to the season, his second as part of Cleveland’s hitting group.
The Guardians rank second in the American League in runs scored (124) behind Baltimore entering play Tuesday, while standing fourth in on-base percentage (.324) and third in OPS (.735). The team that hit the fewest home runs in baseball last year, is currently ranked No. 2 in the AL with 112 RBI through 22 games. Their plus-52 run differential matches the club’s highest through 22 games since 1959.
Esposito, 33, grew up in Bethany, Connecticut, and played three seasons at Vanderbilt before becoming a second-round pick of the Orioles in 2011. After four years in Baltimore’s player development system, he began his coaching career with Cleveland as the hitting coach at short-season Class A Mahoning Valley. From there he worked his way up to hitting coordinator at Triple-A Columbus, where he worked with many of the players on Cleveland’s current roster from 2021-22.
Manager Stephen Vogt said Esposito’s biggest strength is the way he is able to package information gathered by the hitting team and translate it into a player’s swing so that they can attack pitchers on a given night.
“That’s really his expertise,” Vogt said. “It’s is taking that data, understanding how our guys’ swings and bodies are moving and how we can apply that to the pitchers that we’re facing.”
Since joining the organization, Esposito has worked hard to become well-versed in all areas of hitting as far as incorporating new technologies and innovations. But what makes Esposito an effective coach, Vogt said, is his depth of knowledge when it comes to hitting and his ability to communicate that to players.
“They all speak the same language, maybe in different versions or different arenas, but it’s one of those things that Espo brings so much value to the club,” Vogt said. “He really compliments Val (Chris Valaika), Dan (Puente) and (Josh) Tubs. They make a great team.”
Cleveland.com caught up with Esposito before the Guardians faced Oakland in a series finale on Sunday to get his thoughts on how the club’s young hitters have developed, his favorite hitters to watch growing up and what he likes most about Cleveland.
Q: How did playing at Vanderbilt prepare you for what you’re doing now?
Esposito: “Most universities, it just prepares you to be disciplined, manage your time and understand what’s important during your day. Especially living here, having a family, time management and work, those are all priorities. So just making sure that you’re setting your day up accordingly. That’s what college taught me, and I think that’s what you take into this business.”
Q: When you get to the park, what does the day-to-day look like for you? Particularly at the start of a series.
Esposito: “Start of a series is tough because there’s a lot of information to go over. If we’ve played a team, trying to understand if they’re doing things differently, or if they’re doing stuff consistently. Trying to understand how we’re going to help our guys take in all the information and simplify that information for our hitters.
Q: When you see them put up a five-run inning, how satisfying is that for you just to know the work that went into seeing the game plan succeed on a nightly basis?
Esposito: “It’s the game plan. When you see bigger innings, it means guys are executing a game plan. Even if you’re not having big innings, guys can still execute the game plan. So, any at-bat that we’re looking at, we’re just looking to see if we’re executing our plan.
Q: Do you see some of the Guardians hitters growing and getting better at executing those game plans? Guys like Gabriel Arias or Will Brennan come to mind.
Esposito: Yeah, I think experience and with their management of their days, like building some type of advanced information into their day, getting that into their routines, processing that information and being consistent with that sort of work. That has really helped them execute their plans and be more consistent.”
Q: Who were the hitters that you idolized coming up and that you wanted to take parts of their game and make them yours?
Esposito: “I just remember being on YouTube and watching most right-handed hitters and just seeing what they do well. I don’t think I did it as nearly as well as them.
Q: So, guys like Edgar Martinez or Manny Ramirez?
Esposito: “Yeah, guys like that. And then being from the East coast, Manny Ramirez was a good player to watch, especially coming from New York. Yeah, he was definitely somebody you would watch.”
Q: Where do you see yourself progressing from run production coordinator? What are your aspirations?
Esposito: “I think our hitting team is really well-rounded. I love being here, so it feels like we’re all pulling at the same end of the rope and it feels like each one of us can do the other person’s job. It feels interchangeable. I’m really very comfortable in our group and within our hitting team.
Q: What are the differences and similarities between Terry Francona as a manager and now Stephen Vogt?
Esposito: “They both want to get the best out of players, and how they do that is just by coaching them and making sure that they’re the best versions of themselves every day. It’s all about how do we get our players to be that version?”
Q: What’s the best part about being in Cleveland right now?
Esposito: “My family. We have a 3-year-old, so we live here. The best part about being in Cleveland is it’s home. Just seeing people wear our Guardians hats, seeing Cleveland Browns stuff, seeing Cleveland Cavs stuff, it’s become home. I just really value Cleveland.”
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