Skip Schumaker spent his winter working on what he used to spendhis drives to the ballpark worrying about - his hitting.A career outfielder who defined himself in 2008 as a.300-hitting leadoff hitter, Schumaker took to the cages like hedoes every offseason, with the help of his father and the tutelageof Mark McGwire. He figured the biggest thing he had to improveupon was a .168 average against lefthanded pitchers.Then Tony La Russa called."A week before (spring)," Schumaker said, "and it's, 'Get a newglove.'"Schumaker, the sudden second baseman, had a whole new host ofworries.As Schumaker nears his 100th game at second base - he's likelyto make his 91st start there tonight against San Diego - La Russa'sbrainstorm to fit his leadoff hitter and three outfielders in thelineup is no longer the Schumaker experiment. It is Schumaker'svocation. A spring spent learning a new position has become asummer spent playing it, and on the eve of his first crack atarbitration it has altered his career.When Schumaker starts at second for the 100th time, he'll be thefirst to do so for the club since Mark Grudzielanek in 2005. TheCardinals' carousel of infielders at second could stop with anoutfielder."How many second basemen are out there playing good defense andhitting .300? Not many. Not many," said Schumaker's pal, Cardinalsstarter Adam Wainwright. "I know it was hard. It was mentallygrinding during spring. A lot of people would have given up, andmost people wouldn't have the talent to do it. But now he's provenhe's a big-league second baseman. He's a big-league second basemanand he hadn't played second base his entire life, not until the bigleagues."A crowded outfield was La Russa's inspiration. With the releaseof Adam Kennedy, La Russa saw a way to keep Schumaker at leadoffwhile filling the outfield spots with potential power. It wassupposed to mean more offense for the Cardinals. It definitelymeant more chances of playing time for Schumaker. It now offers amatch of production and position that can equal job security.As an outfielder, Schumaker's .294 average would compare well,but his .402 slugging percentage and .753slugging-plus-on-base-percentage is below average for an NLoutfielder (.436 and .778,Tresor Paris Bracelets, respectively). As a second baseman,Schumaker's offense rates above average, and his batting averageand on-base percentage rank in the league's top five at his newposition."The first decision hinged on facts that had nothing to do withhis benefit except for the idea that he would ,BOTTEGA VENETA Women Top Handles... play more," LaRussa said. "When you get into it, realistically, you take the sameoffense and you put it on second base, you are worth more."Added coach Jose Oquendo: "You like to have a second baseman whocan hit .300 and be a leadoff hitter. When you take what 'Schu' hasdone and put it in the outfield, it looks like a fourthoutfielder."Midway through spring training, he shared a hot tub soak withChris Carpenter and told the pitcher he wasn't sure if the switchwas going to work. He was struggling with the footwork, with thetiming. Schumaker told La Russa several times that he feared "beinga liability." He spent most nights worrying about costing thepitchers outs, not being able to turn a key double play or flubbinga routine grounder that fanned a rally. He had doubts,www.bottegavenetabagscheap.com."I would always go to the ballpark thinking about hitting,"Schumaker said. "The outfield came naturally. ... I was worried for(the pitchers). Guys at first and third, I was worried. Turning thedouble play, I was worried. I was worried about all of thesesituations."Carpenter started calling him "his All-Star second baseman." Ifhe made an error during a Joel Pi?eiro start, the sinkerballerwould promise to get him another ground ball. Oquendo and benchcoach Joe Pettini spent hours drilling Schumaker during springtraining and continue to do so during the season - most days at 4o'clock. His peers see, as one said, "dramatic" improvement.Of the 11 National Leaguers who have played 700 or more inningsat second base this season, only four have better fieldingpercentages than Schumaker's .984. That can be a shallow statisticbecause it rewards safe play and doesn't reveal much about aplayer's range, for example. Bill James Online tracks a fielder'splus/minus, which awards a plus for a play outside an assigned zoneand a minus for a missed play inside the zone. Schumaker had aminus 14 three months into his first season. In the past month, hehas been a minus 3.A better gauge of his defensive improvement is anecdotal. AlbertPujols has inched closer to first base, no longer helping to coverthe area to Schumaker's left. Oquendo, his tutor,GUESS Womens Bags, no longer seesthe frenzied throw Schumaker often made after a tricky grounder.The biggestsign: He's finishing games. In his past 10 starts atsecond, he has finished the game at second. No defensive subsneeded."Not only is he finishing the game," La Russa said, "but I'mhoping the ball gets hit to him."General manager John Mozeliak said Schumaker's versatility willbe a factor when shaping the 2010 roster. Infielder Julio Lugo issigned for 2010, and Mark DeRosa is a free-agent option who playssecond. Mozeliak said he is "comfortable" looking at Schumaker'sfuture as the Cardinals' second baseman. His offense is a plusthere. For the Cardinals. And potentially for him.More than four years after his debut, Schumaker is now eligiblefor arbitration and the salary raise that implies. Power pays. Butarbitration also rewards everyday players, which Schumaker has beenat second. It also weighs production compared to others at the sameposition. As Wainwright said they discussed during spring: "It'swhy he stuck it out. It could be long-term."But not yet. Schumaker said give him a whole season beforecalling him a second baseman."It is amazing to me to think about where I started, clankingevery single (grounder) that Joe and Oquendo hit to me to nowfinishing games. That's a huge step for me," Schumaker said. "Ilook at it as a learning experience, still. But now we're in apennant race so it can't be too much of a learning experience. It'sgot to be more habit."---Up next 7:15 tonight vs. Padres, FSM---Positioning Skip's ProductionAs clubs pigeon-hole production into various positions, theyoften look for power in the outfield, especially in left and rightfields. But at second, a .300-hitting batter who can lead off hasan increased value, as illustrated by where Cardinals'outfielder-turned-second baseman Skip Schumaker ranks at second vs.how he would rank if he still played the outfield.Category Schumaker NL Avg. NL 2B Avg. NLOF rank NL OF rank 2BBatting average .294 9th .269 5th .268Slugging Pct .397 25th .436 8th .409On-base Pct .356 17th .342 5th .336OPS* .753 23rd ,www.classicnorthfacesale.com.778 7th .745Runs per game 0.6 11th 1,tory burch robinson tote.7 2nd 0.5* On-base Percentage plus Slugging Percentage.Sources: ESPN.com, Baseball-Reference.com, Post-Dispatchreporting.---ADAM WAINWRIGHTRH - 13-7, 2.73Six of Wainwright's seven losses this season have come at home,where he is 4-6 despite a 2.18 ERA. Wainwright has pitched at leastsix innings in 22 consecutive starts, averaging 8.4 strikeouts pernine innings pitched in his previous 13 starts.MAT LATOSRH - 4-1, 2.43The rookie, who began the season in Class A baseball, has wonfour consecutive starts, dispatching Cincinnati and Atlanta inseven-inning gems and defeating the Mets in his past start. Latos,21, has 23 strikeouts vs. nine walks in 29 2/3 innings.- Derrick Goold 相关的主题文章：

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