A few years back Richie Hebner was the hitting coach for the Buffalo Bisons. We had a long talk about baseball and how it changed over the years. He told me that hitters take too many swings outside of the game.

“A guy goes into a slump and all they want to do is take swings. Before the game, after the game, even during the game, they’re in the tunnel taking swings,” Hebner told me. “I tell them put the bat down and take a break.”

It may sound counterintuitive, but Hebner was probably on to something. He talked about guys who were good hitters going into a slump and heading right for extra BP and looking to change something. “If you were a good hitter before, why do you need to change anything? Right away, guys think they need to change something, and they look to me and I’ve got nothing to tell them because sometimes you’re just in a slump; nothing more, nothing less.”

Following his outing against Columbus on Friday night, Andrew Painter spoke candidly to the media, as he always does. Early on, he hit on something that reminded me of Hebner.

“The change-up split has been a big one for me in the past. But we’re trying to figure some things out with that,” admitted Painter in talking to the media. “Third change-up grip in four starts. I mean, just trying to find something there.”

Keep in mind that two of those starts would have been his previous two with Lehigh Valley. In those two starts Painter had: 10 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 10 K for a 1.80 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. But yet they were changing his grip on the change-up?

Why? It’s what the Phillies do. They had Domonic Brown so messed up with his swing that he was literally changing his batting stance in the middle of an at-bat because he had what is often referred to as “Paralysis by analysis.” They’re thinking too much. They did the same thing with Scott Kingery when he went into a slump. Rather than thinking about what he may be doing differently from before the Phillies went into completely dissecting his swing and changing things.

In Friday’s start, the change-up was so erratic that Painter gave up on it which allowed hitters to sit on his fastball, which they were able to tee off on.

FROM ANDREW TO ANDY ... It has been a long time since Andy Tracy was an IronPig, but he is still fondly remembered by fans. He is in his sixth season as the manager of the Columbus Clippers and was in town with his team last week. Ironically, while he was in town Bryce Harper said that Major League Baseball should let hitters use metal bats in the finals of the Home Run Derby. Tracy got to mess around with an aluminum bat during early BP for the Triple-A Home Run Derby at Coca-Cola Park in 2010.

A local high school player from Northampton High School won the right to compete in the Home Run Derby and use an aluminum bat. Tracy and Dan Johnson, who won the derby that season, took some swings with the varsity player’s bat and were soon told to knock it off because they were hitting cars parked across the street in the parking lot. Tracy remembered the event and has advice for Harper and any others who compete in Home Run contests.

“I’m sure it (using a metal bat) would be fun for the fans and everything, but it might not be a great idea,” said Tracy. “It’s a different feel and it can mess up your swing. I remember after that we went on the road and I tweaked an oblique because I was swinging so hard at every pitch; it’s just not normal. Trying to show off with the metal bat probably didn’t help that, either.”

Tracy loves managing and is on the path he always wanted to take after his playing days. He lives about 20 minutes from the ballpark in Columbus, so the situation is near perfect for him. He would love to coach or manage in the majors but realizes the time away might be tough on him and his family.

“I always knew I wanted to stay in the dugout when I stopped playing and when this opportunity opened up, I jumped at it. The Cleveland organization has been great to me,” said Tracy. “You never know how things could change and they’ll want me to help out in the majors, or someone will be interested in me to manage or coach up there, so it’s in the back of my mind. I can honestly say though that I’m happy where I am at right now.”

WELCOME TO HITTIN’ SEASON ... Felix Reyes launched a 458-foot home run Friday night against Columbus to give him the longest home run hit by an IronPig this season and the longest by an IronPigs player. Aramis Garcia hit one 457-feet and Darick Hall was measured – conservatively – at 454-feet on a home run to right field. Legend has it that Dylan Cozens hit one 469-feet at Coca-Cola Park, but that number has been disputed by a number of sources… Otto Kemp homered in back-to-back plate appearances that same night to give him 10 on the season… Keaton Anthony had a nine-game hitting streak snapped Sunday. During the streak, Anthony hit .361/.382/.581 with two homers… And finally, Bryan De La Cruz was batting .216 at the end of May but has hit .351 since then to raise his season average to .261 with Lehigh Valley. He played in five games against Columbus and had two hits in four of those games. To start July, he is batting .400 (10-for-25) in eight games.

WHERE IS THE TRIPLE-A ALL-STAR GAME? ... Trick question. There is no Triple-A All-Star Game, much to the dismay of the fans. They do have an all-star break though. Lehigh Valley is off until Friday when they play a three-game series in Omaha (Royals) and then visit Indianapolis (Pirates) for a six-game set next week. They are not back in town until July 28 against Buffalo (Toronto). The Pigs are 10-8 in the second half and are four games behind Durham (Rays) and 1.5 behind Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the IL East Division.