[Nats320] Pre-Spring Training Chat With Jim Riggleman (二)
http://nats320.blogspot.com/2010/02/pre-spring-training-chat-with-jim_12.html
Nats320: As a manager, is it comforting to know in 2010 you have other major
league veterans like Eric Bruntlett, Kevin Mench, maybe even Chris Duncan
sitting at Triple A ready to be recalled if someone goes down on the Major
League Roster? Depth, which this organization has not really had since coming
to Washington.
“It’s a nice luxury. The depth in this organization has improved greatly.
That also comes with the addition of the front liners like Pudge (Rodriguez)
and Adam Kennedy. The addition of those two guys to the ball club move back a
couple of others--but it adds to the depth in the organization. That is very
important. Look, (Chris) Duncan is going to be an interesting guy to watch.
Chris has had some physical ailments. If he is past those ailments, if he’s
back to the level of play he was at a couple of years ago when he hit 20
homers for The Cardinals--that’s worth looking at. Mench is also a guy who
has hit home runs in the big leagues. As you said, there are some interesting
guys there and unfortunately you only have 25 slots. We can’t make a spot
for all of them (on the Opening Day Roster). But whomever doesn’t make the
club immediately, I think we will be watching closely to see if there is some
point down the line where they can help us.”
Nats320: Of all the guys signed to minor league deals by Mike Rizzo, Chris
Duncan really interests me. You don’t know if he’s recovered and can
reclaim his rising stardom of a few years back--but there is potential.
“Yes, he’s got a chance. He fits in with the mentality of our ball club. He
’s kind of an old school hard-nosed gamer.”
Nats320: You like that aspect don’t you? The guys that get dirty and lay it
out on the line every single day?
“When you look up at the end of the year and you see guys who have been
there for you, haven’t given up despite the record, grind it out through the
whole season--they played hard--went first to third (on the bases); they slid
hard; they broke up double plays; some things that don’t get noticed in the
stat sheet--but as a manager--get noticed by me. You really appreciate those
guys and the other players on the team appreciate them. And sometimes it rubs
off on some of the other players.”
Nats320: Speaking of the little things, bunting has never been a great
trademark of The Nationals these past five seasons. Is this something you and
your coaches can improve on in 2010--especially when it comes to veteran
players?
“We certainly will work on it a lot. I thought our pitchers actually did a
good job last year in most bunt situations. They were pretty successful
getting the bunt down. My recollection is we got the ball down pretty well
with pitchers bunting--pretty much at the league average. Bunting is not
easy. When you are bunting, quite often, the opposition knows you are
bunting--so they are charging infielders. The pitcher is trying to throw you
something that’s up in the strike zone--to get you to chase and foul off. It
’s not as easy as just putting the ball down. It is something that takes a
lot of work and we will put a lot of work into it this spring.”
“I just don’t know if we will be changing veteran players to help make
veteran players better bunters. I think our emphasis will be on pitchers and
our guys who we foresee having to do more situational and ‘for a base hit’
bunting. A guy like Alberto Gonzalez, that’s got to be a part of his game.
Cristian Guzman, now and then, that has got to be a part of his game. It is
already a part of Nyjer’s game. But for the Zimmerman’s & Dunn’s of the
world--it’s not going to be a major factor in their game. We are going to
work at it a lot. But it’s going to be specifically oriented to certain guys.
”
Nats320: When you get the entire squad together for that first full workout
on February 26th--what are you going to say to them in that first team
meeting? Do you encourage? Cajole? Push?
“Throughout the last couple of months, I’ve made some notes about some
messages I want to get to the ball club. I’ve looked at a little bit of tape
(video) over a few concerns. I’ve watch MLB Network and I’ve seen some game
situations arise which make me think of something that happened last year to
us--and that gets me thinking about a subject. But you make those notes, you
have a plan, and then you get in there and you just sort of talk. I don’t
want to say rambling, or off the cuff. There will be time to discuss the
specific points throughout spring training. But I want to emphasize to them
that we are a talented group. We want to turn this group into a team. We
start this first day as a group--a bunch of individuals put together. We are
going to leave here as a team and that is process. That is a six-week process
in spring training. We will need to take advantage of that every day there.
We have got to make some progress every day and carry that attitude into the
season--basically. We will need to culminate our work throughout the spring
training to where we are sharp in playing the early part of the season. We
need to start strong and ready to compete.”
Nats320: You've been in the game a long time. You have a lot of experience in
the game. You’ve managed both winning clubs and losing clubs. What’s your
gut feeling about the 2010 Washington Nationals?
“I really don’t allow myself to do that or speak on it. As I have said in
the past, at this point--it’s all just talk. Whatever our club is, it’s
only on paper. Whatever we say, it’s just talk. No matter what I think, or
what my gut feeling is--we’ve got to get after it from day one. But my gut
feeling is that we have got to maximize everything we can out of our ball
club. That’s my job and the coaching staff’s job to start from ground zero
and really teach, instruct, push and really motivate the players. We need to
create an atmosphere where we’ve got to outwork everybody else. If we
outwork everybody else and then are good enough--then certainly our talent is
going to rise more so than the other clubs. That will also mean--we’ve
worked harder.”
Nats320: OK, final question--similar in topic, but more from a fan’s
perspective. Here is a team coming off two-straight 100-loss seasons. What
fresh hopes should fans have for 2010 that differs from the experiences of
the past two seasons?
“The fans should feel that Mike Rizzo really made a lot of progress with
this ball club with our roster. He has almost kept everyone from last year
that we felt we had to keep. And he’s added a whole lot of people we really
wanted to add. We don’t feel like we’ve lost any important impact player,
only gained. The Yankees lost Johnny Damon. We should be encouraged that we’
ve identified some keepers, made sure we still got them, fulfilled identified
needs and didn't lose any key players. The Pudge, Kennedy, Jason Marquis,
Matt Capps, Tyler Walker, Brian Bruney and Chris Duncan additions should make
all of us very encouraged.”
“That being said, I feel we had some guys that won’t be with us that made
nice contributions last year. Guys such as Ronnie Belliard, Mike MacDougal
and Josh Bard. Those guys gave everything they had for us and I appreciated
their efforts. But for whatever reasons--contract negotiations, we signed
someone else--they are not coming back. But we’ve kept a nice crop of core
players in guys like Dunn, Zimmerman, Josh Willingham, Morgan, Guzman and
added, like I said with guys like Pudge, Kennedy and a few others.”
“We are moving in the right direction.”
--
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