Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Steven Brault is in New Zealand holding coaching sessions for young kiwi baseball players
After their debut series in the Australian Baseball League, things can only get better for the Auckland Tuatara.
Swept in a four-game series away to the Perth Heat at the weekend, the Tuatara will return to Auckland this weekend as one of three teams yet to pick up a win.
It's a case of deja vu for manager Steve Mintz - but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
"I know people look at this and say it's bad, but I can tell you one thing - three years ago I came here to Perth with Adelaide, and we got walked off four times in Perth," Mintz said.
"We lost three of four against Brisbane the week after and was 1-7, and still played in the Grand Final that season.
Zach Clark impressed in the Auckland Tuatara's opening series. Photo / Photosport
"We'd love to be in a better position that 0-4, but we're going to get home and get ready."
There were some bright spots from the team's opening series. Outfield trio Zach Clark, Eric Jenkins and Max Brown looked very solid in all aspects of the game, first baseman Guiyuan Xu looks to have brought a massive bat with him to the team, and pitchers Josh Collmenter and Kyle Glogoski should probably have gotten wins beside their names from their respective starts.
Collmenter wasn't helped by his defence, with errors in the infield giving away runs.
Glogoksi was taken out of his start after five innings with a four run lead, but Perth rallied for five runs in the bottom of the last inning to stick reliever Yuki Harada with a loss.
Heading into their season opener against Perth, the main worry for the Tuatara was their pitching. Giving up 25 walks through a three-game preseason series against Brisbane, the ability to locate the strike zone was again an issue in Perth.
It's one of a number of areas Mintz wants to see improved for the team's debut home series against the Bandits, which begins on Friday, as was lowering their error count and their pitch recognition at the plate after hitters struck out 35 times in the four-game tilt.
Josh Collmenter got no help from his defence in his first start for the Auckland Tuatara. Photo / Photosport
"You have to play baseball in order to win baseball games, and you have to play clean, tidy baseball," Mintz said.
"You can't throw wild pitches, you can't just flat out miss baseballs and you can't walk as many people as we walked.
"We have to play better baseball, and that's what we're going to do."
Now initiated in the league, the silver lining in the sweep is the side now have the opportunity to notch up their first ever win on home soil.
The Tuatara will be in Auckland for the next three weekends for series' against Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney.
Auckland Tuatara opening weekend results: Game 1: Lost 8-4 (losing pitcher: Josh Collmenter) Game 2: Lost 5-4 (losing pitcher: Yuki Harada) Game 3: Lost 11-3 (losing pitcher: Jimmy Boyce) Game 4: Lost 8-2 (losing pitcher: Chen Yu-Syuan)
