The Enquirer/Zach Buchanan
Before Tuesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Zack Cozart reminisced about a couple of his at-bats the night before with assistant hitting coach Tony Jaramillo. Pirates starter Gerrit Cole had thrown the Cincinnati Reds shortstop a couple of nasty sliders with two strikes, and Cozart had taken them both for narrow balls.
“One-hundred percent last year if he throws those, I just swing at them,” Cozart told Jaramillo.
That at-bat wasn’t an isolated display of plate discipline for the 31-year-old Cozart, but the continuation of a new trend for him in 2017.