Saturday, February 24, 2007

Defensive Black Hole at Third?

From "Notes: Betemit not expected to platoon: Bench thin on lefties; Garciaparra works with smaller gloves" at Dodgers.com:

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Because Wilson Betemit hit only .189 right-handed compared to .281 left-handed last year and because top prospect Andy La Roche is a right-handed hitter, the assumption of a Dodgers platoon at third base picked up steam during the winter.

But manager Grady Little gave Betemit a vote of confidence Saturday.

"He's in good shape, he's working hard and he's got the look on his face that it's his job and somebody has to take it away," said Little. "I can't tell the difference in the way he's swinging [right-handed or left-handed]. Last year, he got into a hole right-handed and started trying harder and dug himself deeper."

Despite several reported dates of birth, Betemit is listed officially at only 25 years old. Little said he should get better with experience and he does not consider him a platoon player.

Ugh. I still can't get the image of Betemit's NLDS overthrow out of my head.

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