03/05/2008 | Royals DeJesus trying new approach to leadoff duty

Links (3)

Learning to Leadoff
Published 3/6/2008 by StatsGuru at Baseball Musings
Manager Trey Hillman and coach Quilvio Veras are getting through to David DeJesus about upping his on-base average : At first glance, DeJesus emerges as a poster boy for Hillman's philosophy. DeJesus ranked second among the club's regulars last season with a .351 on-base percentage and was even better, at .358, when serving as the leadoff hitter. Dig just a little deeper, though, and a need for improvement screams out. DeJesus' .358 OBP placed him 10th among 22 AL players last season who got at least 150 plate appearances while serving as a lineup's leadoff hitter. "There are ...

Baseball Today: Thursday, March 6
Published 3/6/2008 by Art Martone (amartone@projo.com) at Projo Sox Blog
... click this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette link: A report that the Pirates would like to sign Ian Snell to a multiyear deal, and a picture of David Ortiz horsing around with former teammates Freddy Sanchez and Doug Mientkiewicz . . . The recuperating B.J. Ryan will make his spring debut for the Blue Jays a week ahead of schedule (mlb.com) . . . The Phillies' Kris Benson will pitch for the first time in more than a year on Saturday (mlb.com) . . . The Royals' David DeJesus is starting to get it when it comes to plate discipline. (Kansas City Star) ...

Hillman Pulls Royals Back Onto the Field For Extra Drills
Published 3/7/2008 by Shinsano at East Windup Chronicle
... earlier in the game. His solution was to gather the entire team at the plate for what amounted to a 15-minute lecture in full view of the Diamondbacks and the departing crowd of 5,539. Hillman then spent another 10 minutes in discussion with veteran second baseman Mark Grudzielanek near third base before initiating his postgame news conference at the dugout. Love it. Nagashima style. I also found this bit (via Baseball Musings) concerning leadoff man David DeJesus’ OBP and how Hillman is trying to get him to raise it.