Q&A with Jeff Francoeur

By CARROLL ROGERS

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Change has been good for Jeff Francoeur, who was hitting .288 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in 31 games since the Mets acquired him from Braves.

In a recent phone interview, the Atlanta native talked about what’s gone right in New York, what went wrong with the Braves and life so far in the Big Apple.

Q: How have you been doing up there in the big city? Settled in?

A: Good. Not bad for a country boy. We got a nice little three-bedroom apartment out in Long Island City, and [his wife, Catie] has done a good job making it feel like home.

Q: Are you somebody who liked visiting New York, or is it a really big transition?

A: Oh, heck yeah, it’s a big transition, but it’s a lot of fun. [Citi Field] is sweet. The locker room is unbelievable. They have two chefs on-site full-time. They’ve got a steam room, sauna room, three hot tubs, two cold tubs. It’s really cool.

Q: Do people make fun of your accent?

A: Not bad. They all laugh because I drink sweet tea at the park. They’re making it now for a couple of the players.

Q: Things must be going well on the field, eh?

A: I feel great at the plate. I’ve worked on a few things that have helped a little bit. Hitting in the fifth hole and being able to come up with some guys with a chance to score has been nice. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Atlanta, but it got to the point where I wasn’t having that much fun anymore. ... I never wanted to leave, but to be able to go somewhere and really enjoy myself, relax and play baseball again has been a lot of fun for me.

Q: What made it so hard here?

A: Every other article written seemed to be something negative. ... I wasn’t holding up my part of the job. I’ll be the first to admit that, but at the same time, there are other guys on the team, too. It got to a point where I was trying too hard, probably working too hard, trying too many different things, instead of just having fun and letting my instincts take over.

Q: Isn’t it ironic you’d feel less scrutiny in New York than Atlanta?

A: A lot of the media here asked me about playing in New York, and I said, “This is going to sound weird, but I feel like I’m going to have less pressure playing up here than I did in Atlanta.”

Q: How was it, coming back to play in Atlanta?

A: I knew it was going to be weird, [but] I couldn’t have asked for a better reception from the fans. It was really cool. There were going to be a couple yelling boo, but the nice thing was I never left Atlanta on bad terms. It’s not like I didn’t play hard. I played every day and did the best I could. For some reason it wasn’t working out.

Q: Did you feel like the Braves had lost confidence in you when they sent you to the minors last year?

A: Yeah. It was never the same after that. I’m sure I wasn’t giving them the best reason to be [confident], but after that happened, it just was different.

Q: Were you coachable?

A: Shoot, I was willing to try about anything. Ask anybody. Still, someone up here asked me about patience. I’m like, “Listen, I’m not going to go up there and walk 70 times a year. So you can either accept me for the player I am or go get somebody else.” I had two or three walks last week because I’m taking what they’re giving me, but if it’s a 2-0 count, there’s a guy on base and I can drive him in, I’m going to drive him in.

Q: Do you think the Mets want you to be any different?

A: No, they’re not there for my on-base percentage. It was great to hear [manager] Jerry Manuel in a team meeting say, “I don’t care about average. I care about scoring runs, driving in runs and preventing runs.” That’s the type of guy I am.

Q: What do you make of criticism that you couldn’t adjust?

A: I’m 25 years old. I came up so early. Most guys don’t get to the big leagues until they’re 24, 25. I have made a little bit of adjustment on my swing lately. I’ve spread out a little bit. I’ve gotten a lot of good advice from Mac [Brian McCann]. Catching me, he was able to see some things.

Q: What did he say?

A: He talked about how I need to get back to what I used to do and that’s attacking the fastball. If I swing at the slider low and away, so be it, don’t let that fastball beat you. I’ve taken his advice to heart, and it’s worked so far. I was so worried about not swinging at sliders away that by the time I’m pulling the trigger, [the fastball] is by you.

Q: A lot was made of your going to Texas [Rangers] hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, and now, progress you’ve made with Mets hitting coach Howard Johnson. How much did your relationship with [Braves] hitting coach Terry Pendleton affect things here?

A: I have not for one moment ever blamed TP for anything that happened. For 2 1/2 years I raked, and TP was my hitting coach. Nobody said a thing. TP is one of my closest friends. He’s texted me advice since I’ve been here and wished me nothing but the best. Sometimes it’s not the hitting coach; it’s what you’re doing. It’s just a confidence thing and you personally.

Q: How did you approach playing in New York?

A: I talked to [Tom] Glavine a bunch. He’s been awesome. Glav said, “Just go up there and play your butt off and the fans will like you.”... It’s been nice because if I have a bad game, I just shrug it off. In Atlanta, I would go home and analyze the hell out of it.

Q: How is it, dealing with the New York media?

A: It’s definitely different because of the numbers. I remember the first day I was up there, how overwhelming it was when I went in after the game and there were 90 people in the locker room waiting to talk to me.

Q: You’ve made some new friends with the Mets?

A: Oh yeah. I’m not a real shy guy. It’s not hard for me to make friends pretty quick. ... I’ve been hanging with David Wright, Jeremy Reed, Alex Cora. They’ve got a good group of guys.

Q: Do you pay attention to what the Braves do?

A: Some of the guys here were giving me grief because after the games in San Diego I was watching [the Braves on SportSouth]. I love all those guys. I was so excited for Kelly [Johnson] the other night when he hit that home run. I know he was going through a lot of what I went through. I’m sure that felt good. Of course I talk to Brian [McCann] three, four times a week.

Q: When do y’all talk?

A: Two in the morning, usually. I talked to him. I’ve talked to Chipper [Jones]. What made me feel really cool, my first game against Cincinnati, Brian said the whole team was around the TV when I got that hit with the bases loaded, and they were all cheering for me. You can ask any of those guys and they would all agree, the best thing for me was to go somewhere new. They saw how hard I tried. I’m sure they saw how uneasy it got.

Q: It sounds like you’ve taken that to heart.

A: It’s been a great change, but every day I still think about all those guys and [Braves manager] Bobby [Cox] and TP and [the coaches]. They helped me become the player I am. For some reason, for a year, it just didn’t click, and that happens. ... It’s just a matter of finding something that works, and hopefully I’ve found that. But at the same time, I’m going to play the rest of this year hard, then come back to Atlanta. I can’t wait to hit the links over at the River Club and Hawks Ridge and play some golf with those guys.