Yasmani Grandal Listens to Advice From Three-Year-Old Son

PITTSBURGH — Yasmani Grandal was amped as he rounded the bases after ripping a walk-off home run for the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.

A major-league hitter receives input from several different people to put himself in the best possible position to succeed in those types of situations. Whether it’s someone on the hitting staff, a teammate, or anyone else in the organization, there is no shortage of resources available.

For Grandal, however, his advice came from an unusual suspect — his young son.

“My 3-year-old keeps telling me to hit homers,” Grandal said with a grin following the Pirates’ win. “Every time he’s said that, I’ve hit a homer, so he needs to keep telling me the same thing over and over.”

Grandal’s son might not be a hitting savant just yet, but the advice is certainly working.

After belting his game-winning home run at PNC Park on Sunday afternoon, Grandal has homered in three of his last five games, including back-to-back contests. The Pirates catcher’ homered in the Pirates’ 7-0 win in the opening game of the series on Thursday and went deep against the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 16.

“I’ll FaceTime him and see what he says,” Grandal said after listening to his son’s wise words. “The last four homers, every time I speak to him he tells me the same thing: ‘Dad, you need to hit a homer.’ All right, cool.”

Dating back to July 5, Grandal has hit .279 with a .591 slugging percentage and five home runs in 19 games played. While Grandal credits getting his legs back under him after missing most of spring training and the start of the season, maybe his son has a little bit to do with his turnaround, too.

Joey Bart Injury

As he heats up at the plate, Grandal could have a larger role moving forward. Fellow catcher Joey Bart exited the win with left hamstring discomfort and is being evaluated.

Bart, who is having a breakout season with the Pirates after he was acquired early in the year from the Giants, was taken out of the game after trying to beat out a grounder in the first inning.

On the year with Pittsburgh, Bart has slashed a very respectable .272/.347/.479 with a career-high 12 home runs and 39 RBIs in 63 games while handling the primary catching duties.

At this time, it’s undetermined if Bart’s injury will result in a stint on the injured list, but Grandal is ready for an increased role if needed.

“Yeah, obviously, it’s a big hit for us,” Grandal said on potentially losing Bart. “He’s swinging the bat well. It was kind of what we were waiting for, right? One of those guys getting it going. We thought Henry (Davis) was going to do it. When (Bart) stepped up and started doing it, the fact that he went down it’s next man up now. I’m here to do my job. I’m here to fill in wherever the team needs me. If they want to put me back there for the next 20, then go right ahead.”