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Sunday, February 17, 2008
Kotsay, K.J. seem healthy and primed
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s an absolutely beautiful morning here at the Land of the Overbearing Mouse, and we’re watching Timm Hudson throw batting practice to Mark Kotsay and the catchers. To paraphrase P. Floyd, wish you were here, it’s all blue skies and no pain (so far, at least).
Speaking of Kotsay, the hitting coach has only had a few days to watch the Braves’ new center fielder, but Terry Pendleton already has seen enough to discern a few things.
“He’s got great hands — he knows how to use that bat,” said Pendleton, who hasn’t seen any wincing or anything else to suggest that Kotsay had back surgery a year ago that kept him on the disabled list for most of a career-worst 2007 season. “No sign whatsoever [of that injury], which is great.”
Kotsay arrived at the same time as I did today, and we spent a couple of minutes admiring Pendleton’s customized Harley-Davidson Road King out in the players’ lot. Kotsay has a Road King that he’s stripped down and customized, but he’s not riding it these days, not with three little kids and a career he’s trying to revive in his free-agent year.
The bike’s back home in Southern California, and Kotsay is here with a new team, blending in seamlessly from everything I’ve been able to observe and what I hear from tohers.
Guys who didn’t know him a week ago are already saying the same things that guys who played with him said when I covered the Marlins, Kotsay’s initial organization. And also what guys said when he played for San Diego and Oakland: great team guy, perfect fit in the clubhouse, etc.
Kotsay told me the back feels great, no problem. And sure, I know what you’re thinking: what else is he gonna say? But I tend to believe him, because he’s showed no sign of favoring it, and he’s taken as many more turns than anyone in the batting cage during live batting practice. (Coach Bobby Cox said he’s gonna tell Kotsay to take off Monday, because he’s done so much so quickly.)
(By the way, Kotsay is permitted to take part in the workouts because the Braves asked for and got a waiver to allow him to participate, since he’s coming back form an injury. Other early arrivals such as Chipper Jones and Kelly Johnson can only hit on their own in the batting cage, but they show up at the same time as the pitchers and catchers, suit up and go about their business.)
Back to Kotsay’s back. For what it’s worth, I watched out of the corner of my eye this morning as he scanned Pendleton’s bike. He squatted down to look at the engine, and Kotsay did so without showing any of the sort of discomfort that most of you or I might feel doing that at 8 a.m.
Hey, just pointing this out. Because for a guy who had back surgery a year ago, who had back issues that diminished his performance for parts of the previous two seaons, that’s a good sign.
No one expects Kotsay to produce anything close to Andruw Jones’ power numbers But if he’s healthy, Kotsay will play very strong center-field defense and hit for a batting average, probably closer to .300 than .250. (In that particular statistic, he’ll likely outdo Andruw, who hit .222 last season. That and possibly OBP, where Kotsay should be around .350 playing every day in this lineup.)
Sure, this could all change with one diving catch or one bad swing that tweaks his back. But there is reason to believe, from what he’s said and from how he looks in the batting cage, that Kotsay might produce good returns on the $2 million portion of his salary that the Braves are responsible for this season.
When they let Andruw Jones walk, the Braves lost a popular team member who was a 10-time Gold Glove winner and could hit 40 homers and drive in 100 or more runs. In Kotsay, they’ve got a guy who has already fit into the fabric of what’s known as baseball’s most cohesive, disruption-free clubhouse.
And if the back holds up, they’ve got a guy who’ll fit just fine into a potent lineup and an outfield that would once again be about as solid as any from left-center field over to the right-field line.
Big up the middle: They’re young and still developing, but the Braves believe Yunel Escobar and Kelly Johnson has the makings of a top-shelf middle-infield combo, with sound defense and outstanding offensive potential.
Johnson reported to camp in better shape than a year ago, because he was able to spend the winter doing conditioning and weightlifting work. A year ago he spent the entire winter in a crash course on the art of second base, with almost daily tutorials from Glenn Hubbard at Turner Field.
The results were evident most of the season, only a late-season flurry of miscues on backhanded plays marring an otherwise impressive debut at second base for a converted outfielder who missed the 2006 season recovering from elbow surgery.
Johnson admitted he was scared at second base last spring and early in the season, but said he now feels comfortable there.
For a guy who was worried about having balls hit to him in the early season, his offense certainly was impressive: .276 with 10 triples, 16 homers and a .375 OBP, despite a late-season slump that might have been caused in part by fatigue from putting in so much extra work in his first season back from the elbow surgery.
Before hitting .195 with three extra-base hits and a .287 OBP in his final 24 games, Johnson had batted .292 with a .391 OBP and 49 extra-base hits, 80 runs and 63 RBIs in his first 123 games.
Cox said he doesn’t plan to announce a batting order until late in spring training, and won’t say who’ll bat first or second ahead of Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira. I’m not sure he even knows yet.
Johnson and Escobar both excelled in the leadoff role last season, Johnson posting a .372 OBP with 29 extra-base hits and 40 RBIs in 306 at-bats from the top of the order, and Escobar hitting a whopping .351 with a .400 OBP in 151 at-bats at the leadoff spot as a rookie.
My guess is that one of them will be in the role, but I really don’t know which. When I hear anything telling, I’ll let you know.
OK, finishing early today: I’ve got to get to the clubhouse. Braves are wrapping up a short (two-hour) workout today, since only six pitchers threw batting practice. Most others had already thrown back-to-back days.
Oh, and Bobby Cox pulled Dale Jr.’s name in the Braves’ Daytona office pool. And then they insisted it wasn’t rigged.
Chipper and Mike Hampton have gone over to the 500 and been in the pit area in recent years, but neither was going over today, even though Hampton, a friend of Jimmie Johnson’s, was offered a helicopter ride over.
“Got to meet with some lawyers and financial people today,” Hampton said, with a tone of dismay. “I’m [old]. I know I’m [old] when I’m meeting with lawyers instead of going to Daytona.”
”ICY BLUE HEART” by John Hiatt
She came onto him like a slow movin’ cold front
His beer was warmer than the look in her eyes
She sat on a stool, he said, “what do you want?”
She said, “give me a love that don’t freeze up inside.”
He said, “I have melted some hearts in my time dear
But to sit next to you, lord, I shiver and shake
And if I knew love, well, I don’t think I’d be here
Askin’ myself if I’ve got what it takes.”
To melt your icy blue heart
Should I start?
To turn what’s been frozen for years
Into a river of tears
“These days we all play cool, calm and collected
Why, our lips could turn blue just shooting the breeze”
But under the frost, well, he thought he detected
A warm blush of red and a touch of her knee
He said, “girl, you’re a beauty like I’ve never witnessed
And I’ve seen the Northern Lights dance in the air
But I’ve felt the cold that can follow the first kiss
And there’s not enough heat in the fires burning there.”
To melt your icy blue heart
Should I start?
To turn what’s been frozen for years
Into a river of tears
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