Rays
Email
Print
Less Thinking Works For Bartlett
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: September 4, 2008
ST. PETERSBURG - Sometime in July, in the middle of his latest attempt to yank himself from a slump that had endured much of the season, SS Jason Bartlett decided less might be more.
"I stopped thinking about stuff," Bartlett said. "I let my actions take over and stopped trying to create a swing as opposed to going up there and seeing the ball and hit it."
And hit it he has. Bartlett has a .389 batting average in August, the second-best mark for a Rays batter in any month (Fred McGriff hit .422 in July 1999), bumping his season average up nearly 30 points to .281.
Based on Bartlett's career numbers, this is about where he should be hitting, and the struggles that had him grappling just to reach the .250 mark the first few months of the season were the aberration. He hit .297 during his minor-league days with the Twins and entered the year with a .272 career average in the majors.
"I'm not a bad hitter," he said. "I just got off to a bad start and it's always tough to get out of a hole."
Not that the Rays had any complaints when Bartlett wasn't producing like he is now. His impact on the overall team defense has been so great that Manager Joe Maddon likely would have kept him in the lineup every day if he was hitting .200.
And playing shortstop remains Bartlett's primary concern.
"It's always defense first, especially at my position," he said. "That's how I'm going to stick around in this game, is playing defense."
But he lets it be known he pays plenty of attention to the other side of the game as well.
"Don't get me wrong - I've always thought of myself as a good hitter, so obviously the way I started the season, I wasn't too happy with it," Bartlett said. "I just kept battling, and I'm in a good spot right now."
THE CATCH: Everyone except B.J. Upton was talking about the highlight-reel catch the center fielder made at the wall to rob Alex Rodriguez of extra bases Tuesday night.
Maddon thought it might have been the best he has seen from Upton, and Rodriguez told reporters he thought it was a "phenomenal" grab.
"I really enjoyed the play," said Rodriguez.
Despite the praise he received from other quarters, Upton wasn't buying into the hype Wednesday.
"That's what I do, man," he said. "The ball goes up, I run and catch it."
Upton admitted to checking out the catch on the highlights, but said he had moved on after that.
"The biggest thing is, we didn't get a win," he said.
SLOW ROAD: There still is no definitive word on when 3B Evan Longoria (fractured right wrist) might rejoin the lineup. Maddon has said Longoria will need to be able to swing the bat without pain for two or three days before the Rays will activate him, "but it hasn't happened yet."
"We're in a holding pattern there," Maddon said. "He's feeling better, and I know the throwing part is coming along really well.
"I just don't know when we're really going to be cleared to go full-gorilla with the swing. I'm not sure yet."
FARM FACTS: Durham beat Louisville 3-0 Wednesday night to open its playoff run, with David Price getting the win for his five innings.
All of the Bulls' runs came on solo homers off Louisville starter Matt Maloney - the first by Elliot Johnson in the fifth, followed by back-to-back shots by Dan Johnson and Chris Richard in the seventh.
The teams will reconvene tonight in Louisville with Mitch Talbot slated to face Homer Bailey in Game 2 of the best-of-five series.
Marc Lancaster
Email
Print
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
