Sunday, April 07, 2002
Reds notes: Encarnacion a hit, so far
Right fielder worked on stance in offseason
By John Erardi and Gary Estwick
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Right fielder Juan Encarnacion, who hit his first home run in for the Reds Saturday, has scorched the baseball since he arrived at Cinergy Field.
He's actually hitting better than his .368 average (7-for-19, with two doubles) would indicate, because he has hit some balls on the nose that have been caught.
He knows he has to field his position better if the Reds are going to have a chance to win some games with a starting pitching staff that needs all the help it can get.
Encarnacion already has two errors (one was part of the Reds' three-error second inning Friday night) and he badly misplayed a ball on Opening Day that wasn't officially an error, but he knows he should have had it.
He vows his fielding will pick up, that he's a better outfielder than he has shown so far. Meanwhile, if Encarnacion keeps hitting the ball like he is, he won't be hitting seventh for long. Based on the brief glimpse he has provided thus far, this is a man with some serious bat speed.
“This is a good hitting lineup,” Encarnacion said. “I hit 3-4-5 in Detroit, but wherever they put me (here) I will do my job. I'm new here. I can't be saying "I want this,' or "I want that.' I have to prove what I can do.”
He worked in the offseason back home in the Dominican Republic on returning to his original batting stance. Last year, he was hitting with his hands up around his head. Now, his hands are lower.
“I've got less movement, and I'm starting in a better postion to hit,” Encarnacion said. “Because I'm not moving so much, I think I'm seeing the ball better and keeping things right around the strike zone.”
The home run he hit Saturday was smoked.
If not for the big black curtain above and beyond the fence in left-center, Encarnacion's home run might have landed on the concrete deck of Great American Ball Park. It would have been the first ball hit into the new park this year in a game.
“I guessed right,” Encarnacion said. “He (Expos starter Tomo Ohka) had been throwing that split-finger (pitch) early in the count to a lot of guys, so I guessed he'd do the same to me. He started me with a fastball for a strike, and I was waiting for the split-finger.”
Encarnacion, 26, grew up in Las Matas de Farfan on the “south side” of the island, about a three-hour car ride to Santo Domingo.
“My uncle played ball,” he said. “That got me interested in it. I didn't come to the game as early as a lot of kids do (in the Dominican). I didn't start playing (seriously) until I was about 14. In '93 I played on the national team. I started out as a pitcher. I really didn't start hitting a lot until about two months before I signed with Detroit.”
COLD BALL: Reds players get cold just like fans do at chilly games. A dip in temperature doesn't affect everyone, but it does slow down a few. Reliever Luis Pineda said the weather was too cold, but starter Chris Reitsma, who was born in Minneapolis and resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, was fine Saturday. The game time temperature was announced at 43 degrees.
“I'm from the north, so it doesn't really matter when I get the ball,” Reitsma said. “Cold, night or day, it doesn't matter. The ball was a little slick today, and it was a little chilly, but I didn't have much of a problem with it.”
Reitsma said his breaking ball was slowed down by the weather, but not a lot.
“(Cold weather) will affect play, no question,” manager Bob Boone said. “Every aspect of play. I think with pitchers, it can be a factor. When it gets cold, the ball gets slick.”
LOOKED GOOD A DAY LATER: One day after Todd Walker struck out to end the Reds' rally Friday against the Expos, Montreal manager Frank Robinson was debating whether left-hander's Graeme Lloyd pitch was truly a foot outside the plate as suggested by some media members.
“I thought it was right down the middle,” Robinson said, grinning. “There's no way an umpire is going to call a ball outside like that.”
A LOT OF GAMES: Saturday's game was the 2,500th regular-season game played at Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field. It also was the first game of the season under three hours (2:45).
SWEEP ON LINE: If the Reds lose to Montreal today, it will be the first time the Expos have swept the Reds in Cincinnati since the 1992 season (Aug.31- Sept.2 series).
THIS AND THAT: Ken Griffey Jr. (.222, 4-for-18) had his four-game hitting streak to start the season snapped Saturday (0-for-4). He couldn't have hit any harder the ball that first baseman Andres Galarraga speared high and to his right in the fourth inning...Adam Dunn (2-for-14, .143) was 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI, lined out hard to left in the fifth inning. “He swung it better today, had a better approach,” said Reds manager Bob Boone.
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Reds notes: Encarnacion a hit, so far
