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David DeJesus.
For years, DeJesus saw little significance to batting first in the lineup. Sure, it meant a few more at-bats over a season. But, really, he took the same approach as he would on those less-frequent occasions when he batted elsewhere in the lineup.
“I was just trying to have good at-bats,” he said. “That’s all I was thinking about: Have a good at-bat.”
This is the American League, after all. Land of the designated hitter. Pitchers just pitch. The leadoff hitter simply has the first seat on the lineup merry-go-round, right?
No.
Listen to Veras, and it’s a more emphatic NO!
“Everything has got to be different for a leadoff hitter,” argues Veras, a roving coach for the Royals who spent most of his seven big-league seasons in the role. “For me, the leadoff hitter is the key to the game. If he’s not getting on, then we’re not scoring runs.
“If he gets on base, the big guys drive him in. You score runs, you win games.”
That speaks, loudly, to new manager Trey Hillman’s relentless devotion to on-base percentage. OBP is a mantra with Hillman, who stresses its importance at every opportunity.
“I’ve spoken to all of them about eliminating batting average and going to OBP,” he said. “Because OBP really is the statistic that tells you what your chances are of scoring runs.”
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 so many little things that I just took for granted in my first few years,” he said. “So many of these little things that coaches are pointing out are things that I never really thought about.
“It all comes down to on-base percentage and runs scored. Those are the two things a leadoff hitter wants. That’s your job; get on base and score runs.”
It’s a message that Veras continually hammers home.
“We’ve been talking about learning the way the pitcher is going to pitch him,” he said. “How are they going to pitch you the first time? What does that tell you about what they’re going to try later in the game?”
It requires a more cerebral approach, more time watching video and studying tendencies. The Royals are trying to ease that burden through technology. Players can now download video to their iPods for study at any time.
“If I can do a better job of studying video and see how guys have pitched to me,” DeJesus said, “I can better prepare myself to face that pitcher or any pitcher. That can only help me out in my game.”
The earliest of returns are encouraging. DeJesus is five for seven with three walks and a hit by pitch in his first 11 spring plate appearances.
“I haven’t said anything specifically to David,” Hillman said, “but, up to this point, I’m really pleased by his approach.”
Hillman stresses that he isn’t demanding that DeJesus take pitches, merely that he adopt a disciplined approach.
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