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Bartlett Throws Himself Into Defense With Rays

Tribune file photo by CHRIS URSO

Tampa Bay's Jason Bartlett reduced the number of errors he commited at shortstop by 10 last season from the year before, when he played for Minnesota.

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 11, 2009

Updated: 03/12/2009 01:41 am

PORT CHARLOTTE - For a guy who was billed as a potential defensive savior for the Tampa Bay Rays heading into his first season with the team, Jason Bartlett had experienced plenty of headaches in the field during his career.

Back when he was a kid in the low minors in 2002, Bartlett committed 29 errors in 114 games. Two years later, as he tore it up at the plate for Triple-A Rochester with a .331 average, he also managed to make 20 errors in 67 games. And in 2007 with Minnesota, his first full year in the majors, he led all big-league shortstops with 26 errors.

Those numbers are deceptive to a certain extent; fielders whose range allows them to get to more balls tend to make more errors than those who aren't as mobile and watch more balls skip cleanly into the outfield for hits. But there was room for improvement for Bartlett as he joined the Rays last spring.

"I went into the offseason thinking, 'I've got to change something up,' " Bartlett said.

Rays third base coach Tom Foley, who supervises the defensive work for the team's infielders, was curious to get a closer look at Bartlett.

"We knew the errors he had made the year before – it was a pretty good number," said Foley. "And you watch him [play] and you say – 'That's not you.' Then you ask him what were most of the errors and he's going to tell you, throwing. So that's basically what you concentrate on."

But it was the way Foley and the Rays went about it that Bartlett appreciated the most. Rather than trying to completely deconstruct Bartlett's defensive methods from the beginning, Foley took time to let the shortstop do his own thing.

"Coming up [in the Twins' system], I was always unorthodox as far as my throwing and people were always trying to change me," Bartlett said. "When I came over here, Foley just said, 'Do what feels comfortable and if it starts messing up, we'll fix something.'"

Most of Foley's suggestions, when necessary, had nothing to do with Bartlett's arm. The key to keeping his throws on target is releasing the ball from a solid base whenever possible, so his feet and his entire body can get behind the throw.

For the most part, Bartlett was fine. He had one stretch of the yips in mid-April that saw him make four errors – all throwing – in a seven-game span. But he would make only 12 more the rest of the season, cutting 10 off his total from the previous year (albeit in 117 fewer total chances).

Setting aside his .286 batting average last season, Bartlett felt better about his improvement in the field than any other individual highlight in his first year with the Rays.

"If I mess up on defense, it bothers me more," he said. "I take pride in defense."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227.

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