Saturday, March 04, 2006
Around the Horn: Corner infielders
01/25/2006
ATLANTA -- As the early weeks of the 2005 season unfolded, Chipper Jones was looking like his former dominant self. In fact, it appeared that the Braves would indeed see one of their Joneses enjoy an MVP-caliber season.
Of course, at the time, nobody knew it would be Andruw Jones. Nor could anyone have known that the once ever-durable Chipper would once again be subjected to an injury-plagued season, full of both pain and disgust.
While appearing in a career-low 109 games last year, Jones had plenty of time to serve as a mentor to his younger teammates. One of his primary pupils was again Adam LaRoche, who has found being a close friend of the teacher simply means he's going to get the harshest critiques.
As far as friendships go, Jones is as close to LaRoche as he is any other Braves teammate. Now he can only hope to remain close to him on the field throughout what he hopes to be a season in which he can finally avoid injury.
While Jones simply needs health to maintain his status as the Braves' everyday third baseman, LaRoche must prove he's capable of hitting left-handed pitchers. This would allow him to assume the role of being an everyday first baseman.
If both get their wish, they'll form a corner infield duo that could prove very effective for the Braves.
When Jones first injured his left foot on April 24 last year, he was hitting .381 and had a .513 on-base percentage. Pitchers were pitching around him like they wish they'd done with more frequency during his 1999 National League MVP season.
After suffering the injury, Jones was never the same, and by June 6, he began a six-week stint on the disabled list. Before suffering a hamstring injury in April 2004, the veteran third baseman hadn't been on the disabled since 1996. That stint, necessitated by offseason knee surgery, caused him to miss just the first four games of the season.
Now having seen the hamstring injury limit him to 138 games in 2004 and the left foot injury hamper him most of last season, Jones has committed himself to an offseason conditioning program that includes a personal trainer and new diet.
Jones will turn 34 in April and he knows there's little time to regain the form that allowed him to complete eight consecutive seasons (1996-2003) with at least 100 RBIs. Mel Ott, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa are the only other NL players to have enjoyed a streak that long. Sosa holds the record with nine consecutive seasons.
When Jones returned to the lineup after last year's All-Star break, he had some impressive stretches. He hit .357 with five homers and 20 RBIs in 70 August at-bats. At the same time, he was providing solid defense at third base.
Since leaving his left field assignment and returning to third, Jones has proven to be even better defensively than he was during his first stint at the hot corner. He credits maturity and a better understanding of the position.
Those are two things LaRoche hopes to gain as he prepares for his third full season in the big leagues. His first two seasons found him serving in a platoon role at first base with Julio Franco.
When Franco opted to sign a two-year deal with the Mets this offseason, the Braves began looking for other right-handed hitters who could platoon at first base with LaRoche. They had hoped to sign Jeff Conine to fill that role.
But now as Spring Training approaches and no replacements have been found, it looks like LaRoche might at least get a chance to prove he can hit southpaws.
Currently within their system, the two most likely right-handed candidates would be Scott Thorman or James Jurries. But they'd rather Thorman continue his development in an everyday role in the Minors. As for Jurries, he would have to prove his glove was dependable enough at first base.
Given limited opportunities (48 at-bats) to bat against left-handed pitchers last year, LaRoche hit just .188. But given the chance to see southpaws on a regular basis, the 26-year-old first baseman could greatly improve in that category.
LaRoche has proven to be a clutch player during the playoffs the last two seasons. He's belted two significant homers and produced a .320 batting average in 25 postseason at-bats.
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
ATLANTA -- As the early weeks of the 2005 season unfolded, Chipper Jones was looking like his former dominant self. In fact, it appeared that the Braves would indeed see one of their Joneses enjoy an MVP-caliber season.
Of course, at the time, nobody knew it would be Andruw Jones. Nor could anyone have known that the once ever-durable Chipper would once again be subjected to an injury-plagued season, full of both pain and disgust.
While appearing in a career-low 109 games last year, Jones had plenty of time to serve as a mentor to his younger teammates. One of his primary pupils was again Adam LaRoche, who has found being a close friend of the teacher simply means he's going to get the harshest critiques.
As far as friendships go, Jones is as close to LaRoche as he is any other Braves teammate. Now he can only hope to remain close to him on the field throughout what he hopes to be a season in which he can finally avoid injury.
While Jones simply needs health to maintain his status as the Braves' everyday third baseman, LaRoche must prove he's capable of hitting left-handed pitchers. This would allow him to assume the role of being an everyday first baseman.
If both get their wish, they'll form a corner infield duo that could prove very effective for the Braves.
When Jones first injured his left foot on April 24 last year, he was hitting .381 and had a .513 on-base percentage. Pitchers were pitching around him like they wish they'd done with more frequency during his 1999 National League MVP season.
After suffering the injury, Jones was never the same, and by June 6, he began a six-week stint on the disabled list. Before suffering a hamstring injury in April 2004, the veteran third baseman hadn't been on the disabled since 1996. That stint, necessitated by offseason knee surgery, caused him to miss just the first four games of the season.
Now having seen the hamstring injury limit him to 138 games in 2004 and the left foot injury hamper him most of last season, Jones has committed himself to an offseason conditioning program that includes a personal trainer and new diet.
Jones will turn 34 in April and he knows there's little time to regain the form that allowed him to complete eight consecutive seasons (1996-2003) with at least 100 RBIs. Mel Ott, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa are the only other NL players to have enjoyed a streak that long. Sosa holds the record with nine consecutive seasons.
When Jones returned to the lineup after last year's All-Star break, he had some impressive stretches. He hit .357 with five homers and 20 RBIs in 70 August at-bats. At the same time, he was providing solid defense at third base.
Since leaving his left field assignment and returning to third, Jones has proven to be even better defensively than he was during his first stint at the hot corner. He credits maturity and a better understanding of the position.
Those are two things LaRoche hopes to gain as he prepares for his third full season in the big leagues. His first two seasons found him serving in a platoon role at first base with Julio Franco.
When Franco opted to sign a two-year deal with the Mets this offseason, the Braves began looking for other right-handed hitters who could platoon at first base with LaRoche. They had hoped to sign Jeff Conine to fill that role.
But now as Spring Training approaches and no replacements have been found, it looks like LaRoche might at least get a chance to prove he can hit southpaws.
Currently within their system, the two most likely right-handed candidates would be Scott Thorman or James Jurries. But they'd rather Thorman continue his development in an everyday role in the Minors. As for Jurries, he would have to prove his glove was dependable enough at first base.
Given limited opportunities (48 at-bats) to bat against left-handed pitchers last year, LaRoche hit just .188. But given the chance to see southpaws on a regular basis, the 26-year-old first baseman could greatly improve in that category.
LaRoche has proven to be a clutch player during the playoffs the last two seasons. He's belted two significant homers and produced a .320 batting average in 25 postseason at-bats.
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
