MESA, Ariz. — A pitch-dark sky greets Jerry Weinstein every morning when he arrives at the Chicago Cubs spring training complex.

The 81-year-old coach is known for being the first among the staff to arrive each day, typically pulling up around 4:30 or 5 a.m.

“He’s done working out before the rest get there,” bench coach Ryan Flaherty said with a laugh.

By the time staff and players arrive for morning workouts, Weinstein already has posted multiple tweets with videos and commentary, often highlighting catching and baserunning techniques and drills, to his 89,700 followers on X — all part of a spring routine that belies his age.

Weinstein wasn’t much of a social media guy until about 11 years ago, when his book, “The Complete Handbook of Coaching Catchers,” was published and he was told he should have an online presence. Initially he shared snippets from the book, but over the years he has expanded to posting a few things a day, touching on a variety of baseball topics.

“It’s about the high sea floats all the boats,” Weinstein told the Chicago Tribune. “The better we can make the game on the amateur level, the better those players are going to be as an entry-level college player or professional player.

“A lot of people helped me along the way. It’s payback time, and I like sharing.”

Weinstein — who typically wears stirrups paired with high pants, a Cubs sweatshirt and aviator sunglasses — joined the organization in the offseason as a special assistant after 17 years in the Colorado Rockies organization.

One morning last month during the first week of camp, Weinstein paused the pitching machine and summoned a trio of Cubs catchers to huddle around him. He pulled out his phone, showing a clip of the framing drill Miguel Amaya, Carson Kelly and Reese McGuire had just been going through — part of the catchers’ daily defensive focus with Weinstein.

Weinstein’s work isn’t limited to leading catcher drills. He can be found all over the complex this spring, sometimes on the half-field hitting a fungo, observing infielders taking grounders or watching bullpen sessions.

Six decades into his career, coaching still fuels Weinstein.

“I’ve got this narrow, deep cylinder where I operate most of the time, and that’s a passion for the game,” he said. “I like seeing people succeed. I like being part of that process. And then once you get them where you want them to go, eliminating yourself from the process.

“I always say that my job is to eliminate my job. I’m not trying to develop codependent players, and I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing those players, or even staff, succeed.”

No matter how long he has been doing this, Weinstein constantly looks for ways to expand his knowledge, noting, “I’m not afraid to make changes or try things.”

He referenced the Japanese philosophy Kaizen in which improvements are made in small increments and cited a book he read, “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know” by Adam Grant, that focuses on examining one’s paradigms and not becoming stuck in a routine.

That drive to grow and desire to improve stood out to Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins since he first crossed paths with Weinstein in 2010.

While working in player development for Cleveland, Hawkins was looking for minor-league pitching coordinator candidates when Derek Johnson — now the Cincinnati Reds pitching coach and Vanderbilt’s pitching coach when Hawkins played there — brought up Weinstein. The timing didn’t work out, but Hawkins kept running into Weinstein at coaching conventions over the years, and they kept in touch.

A new challenge appealed to Weinstein over the offseason. His connections to Hawkins and Cubs bullpen coach Mark Strittmatter, a close friend from their years together with the Rockies, along with a different process with the Cubs than in Colorado — “a lot more detail, a lot more analytical, a lot more support staff,” Weinstein explained — made this the right time.

“When you can bring in a guy like Jerry, you do it,” Hawkins told the Tribune. “If this guy’s expertise was in washing countertops, I still would want to hire him because you want people that are just that passionate about getting better at something.

“So that’s the main thrust but, yes, his understanding of catching, understanding of the fundamentals, understanding of little intricacies of what you can call winning baseball, just good decisions on the field, is the highest level. His focus on the micro without losing the picture of the macro is incredible.”

Weinstein’s baseball journey has seen him coach at nearly every level.

He began his career in 1966 as the freshman coach at UCLA, his alma mater, and later took over at Sacramento City College, where in 23 seasons he amassed 831 wins and two California community college titles. Twenty-eight of his 213 players who were drafted reached the big leagues.

Weinstein’s resume includes managing multiple minor-league teams, including the Cubs short-season squad in 1994, a Cape Cod League team and in international play for the United States (winning a gold medal at the 2005 Maccabiah Games) and Israel (in the 2017 World Baseball Classic).

He also managed eight-time All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado in 2011 at High-A Modesto, where the 10-time Gold Glove winner later credited Weinstein for helping him become more efficient on defense through footwork drills and understand when to sharpen his focus through pre-pitch preparation.

“He’s taught so many people, so many players over the years, and we’d be foolish not to listen,” Strittmatter said. “Whatever age you are, whether you’re a new coach, an old coach, he can relate to everybody.”

Weinstein’s expertise extends through all facets of the game, though he has become known for his catching knowledge and development. He became one of baseball’s first catching coordinators — a position that organizations now consider essential — when the Milwaukee Brewers hired him in 1980.

He has been a valuable resource this spring for young Cubs catchers Amaya, 25, and Moises Ballesteros, 21, both of whom Weinstein called smart, athletic and willing to make adjustments. He praised Ballesteros for how his throwing has greatly improved over the past month and lauded Amaya’s focused, serious work and high awareness behind the plate.

“It means a lot for us to be around him, bringing his experience and knowledge,” Amaya said. “He gives us a bunch of stuff and lets us pick what works for us and just being in good communication with him to share ideas.

“I’m thankful for having him here. Having him remind us every day, ‘Do this, do that,’ is really good for us.”

Weinstein breaks down catching into four key areas: receiving, blocking, throwing and game management. He considers receiving to be the most impactful part of the catcher’s job because of 50-50 strike-ball calls that can influence the outcome, even if it’s only a couple of calls a game. Weinstein tries to make every drill as individualized as possible and, perhaps most important, done at game speed.

“A lot of times we end up doing block-type drills that are predictable and below game speed, below game complexity, and then when you get in the game, everything speeds up,” Weinstein said. “And no matter what you develop in that comfort zone, we’re hoping that they can be comfortable being uncomfortable.”

He has amassed a filing cabinet’s worth of drills over the years and always looks to pick ones that best resonate with the individual players to enhance their performance. McGuire credited Weinstein for helping him position his left leg more consistently in his one-knee stance, improving his mobility and allowing him to block balls more effectively.

Weinstein’s drill work for catchers ranges from using a two-ball machine for focus and vision training to amping up the speed of balls in the dirt to framing elevated pitches while trying to keep the rest of the body still.

No matter how many years he has spent in the sport — he estimates this is his 33rd spring training — the baseball lifer’s love of the game still burns deeply.

“I’ve got this weird brain that is constantly in baseball motion,” Weinstein said, smiling, “and I just really like what I’m doing.”

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