Sunday, March 25, 2001
Young happy hitting second
Letf fielder will bat between Larkin, Griffey
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LAKELAND, Fla. — Dmitri Young figures he won't have to check the lineup card this season for three reasons:
• He knows he'll be on it.
• He knows he'll be playing left field.
• And he knows he'll be hitting second.
That all makes Young, in his fourth year with the Reds, very happy.
“This year is different,” he said Saturday. “I don't have to worry about job security. I don't have to worry about playing right or left. It's: "Young, play left and bat second.'”
Young has been successful since he came to the Reds from the St.Louis Cardinals in a trade for Jeff Brantley before the 1998 season. But Young, the 27-year-old switch-hitter, has been moved around more than anyone on the Reds roster.
Young began 1998 on the bench. He won the first baseman's job from Eduardo Perez. But then he was moved to left field to make room for Sean Casey. In the spring of 1999, he was moved from left to right to make way for Greg Vaughn. In the spring of 2000, he moved back to left to make room for Dante Bichette.
He also was moved around in the batting order, hitting anywhere from second through seventh.
All that played on his mind.
“I don't have to go into a game thinking if I don't get a hit, I won't be playing the next game,” he said. “Now I can work on things and take my at-bats with a better approach.”
Batting second is fine with Young. He is not a prototypical second hitter. He's a free swinger with good power — not someone expected to bunt over the leadoff man.
But Reds manager Bob
Boone contends Young will thrive in the No.2 spot because he'll see good pitches batting after Barry Larkin and before Ken Griffey Jr.
“He can be spectacular,” said Boone.
“They're going to have to make pitches or take the consequences,” Young said.
Boone especially looks forward to having Larkin and Young coming up in the late innings when the Reds are tied or behind.
“With Larkin and Young at the top of lineup,” Boone said, “if you get the eighth hitter on, you have your best hitters coming up, not just speed guys.”
Boone said Young won't be asked to bunt often, but he's confident Young can deliver if needed.
“He can,” Boone said. “All my guys can.”
The Reds — from Griffey on down — have done bunting drills this spring. Young was already a decent bunter.
“(St. Louis manager Tony) LaRussa stressed that,” Young said. “He talked about doing the little things as well as the big things to win.”
Young said his overall approach to hitting won't change: “I'm going to go up there and wail. I've got to stay aggressive.”
That's all right with Boone.
“You've got to throw strikes (to the hitter) in front of Griffey,” Boone said. “We don't want (Young) to change. We want pitchers to change.”
Young's aggressive approach has been successful. He's hit .310, .300 and .303 in his three seasons with the Reds, and he has averaged 38 doubles.
Last year, he put up his best overall numbers — .303, 18 home runs and 88 RBI.
Those could improve this year with him hitting between Larkin and Griffey.
“On paper, it looks real nice,” Young said. “We'll see how everything works out. We've got to stay healthy.”
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Young happy hitting second
