Royals working to improve Peña’s range through better timing
By BOB DUTTON
The Kansas City Star
TEMPE, Ariz. | Like most things, Tony Peña’s range as the Royals’ shortstop is a matter of perspective.
Cycle back to a year ago when the Royals obtained Peña from the Atlanta Braves, having tired of Angel Berroa’s diminishing skills. It wasn’t hard to appreciate the defensive upgrade.
Peña easily gobbled up grounders that previously bounded through the left side. The numbers, by season’s end, reaffirmed the improvement. His zone rating among regular shortstops was far higher than Berroa attained the previous year.
Sure, zone rating is an imprecise measurement that relies on the judgment of the folks at Stats, Inc., to calculate the percentage of balls fielded in a player’s typical defensive zone.
Even so, the numbers weren’t close.
Peña ranked ninth among 24 regular big-league shortstops — those who played at least 108 games at the position. A year earlier, Berroa ranked 22nd among 24 qualifying players.
“If we don’t have Tony Peña last year,” general manager Dayton Moore concluded, “we certainly lose 100 games.”
Fast forward to this spring.
New infield coach Dave Owen looks at Peña with fresh eyes and without the Berroa overlay. Owen sees a slow first step resulting from an improper “go” position as the ball reaches the hitting zone.
Conclusion: Peña’s range, while good, can get a lot better.
“Obviously, if we can get him on time,” Owen said, “he’s going to be quicker. His first step is going to be better, and I think that’s going to give us an edge. He might be able to pick up a step here or there and, maybe, balls that he might just miss, he now gets to.”
Owen confirmed his belief after getting video coordinator Mark Topping to hone in on Peña for a few days.
“Tony has great aptitude and with him now seeing himself, that helps,” Owen said. “It’s one thing for me to say something. But when he actually sees himself on video, now, it’s like — boom, OK, I see I’m late.”
The result is extra work on the practice fields and regular scrutiny in games. It’s a fine bit of timing. Moving too early is little better than moving too late.
“Baseball is a game of adjustments,” Peña said. “You’ve always got to do little things to get better. I’m trying to tweak it so I can do it and still be comfortable with the way I do things.”
Peña also expects to benefit from a full spring of workout drills with second baseman Mark Grudzielanek. When Peña arrived last spring, Grudzielanek was recovering from knee surgery.
“During the season,” Peña said, “you don’t have the same opportunities to work together. We’ve been doing a lot of extra work together, going out early and staying late, just working on turning double plays and trying to get locked in together.”
Much like Owen, Grudzielanek touts Peña’s potential to become one of the game’s better defensive shortstops.
“I see a kid who has all of the tools, a slick body with an above-average arm,” said Grudzielanek, who spent his first four big-league seasons as a shortstop for the Montreal Expos.
“Defensively, Tony has very few limitations. He can pretty much do what he wants to do out there if he keeps working on it.”
Owen’s basic adjustment has Peña, who stands more upright than most shortstops, moving into his “go” position a little earlier than before.
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To reach Bob Dutton, Royals reporter for The Star, call (816) 234-4352 or send e-mail to bdutton@kcstar.com
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