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Kotsay's Back...Doesn't seem to be bothering him
Topic Started: Feb 17 2008, 02:49 PM (161 Views)
ttiger2004
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Manager
Well, it seems DOB got a first hand view of Mark Kotsay in the batting cage taking some live pitching from Tim Hudson under the watchful eye of Terry Pendleton. Here is what DOB had to say about what he saw from Mark Kotsay.

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Speaking of Kotsay, the hitting coach has only had a few days to watch the Braves’ new center fielder, but Terry Pendleton already has seen enough to discern a few things.

“He’s got great hands — he knows how to use that bat,” said Pendleton, who hasn’t seen any wincing or anything else to suggest that Kotsay had back surgery a year ago that kept him on the disabled list for most of a career-worst 2007 season. “No sign whatsoever [of that injury], which is great.”


DOB and Kotsay apparently arrived at the park at the same time, they were checking out TP customized Harley. Read at what DOB noticed about what Kotsay was doing while they were looking at the bike.

Quote:
 
Back to Kotsay’s back. For what it’s worth, I watched out of the corner of my eye this morning as he scanned Pendleton’s bike. He squatted down to look at the engine, and Kotsay did so without showing any of the sort of discomfort that most of you or I might feel doing that at 8 a.m.

Hey, just pointing this out. Because for a guy who had back surgery a year ago, who had back issues that diminished his performance for parts of the previous two seaons, that’s a good sign.

No one expects Kotsay to produce anything close to Andruw Jones’ power numbers But if he’s healthy, Kotsay will play very strong center-field defense and hit for a batting average, probably closer to .300 than .250. (In that particular statistic, he’ll likely outdo Andruw, who hit .222 last season. That and possibly OBP, where Kotsay should be around .350 playing every day in this lineup.)

Sure, this could all change with one diving catch or one bad swing that tweaks his back. But there is reason to believe, from what he’s said and from how he looks in the batting cage, that Kotsay might produce good returns on the $2 million portion of his salary that the Braves are responsible for this season.


That is a damn good sign. Heck I can't even do that folks. Yeah I know, one wrong swing or a dive and we could be in a world of hurt but if he stays healthy, what an investment for $2M.

KJ was also mentioned in this article, it seems he arrived in camp early also. It seems KJ has reported to camp in better shape due to off season conditioning and weightlifting program. Will be exciting to see how well KJ looks and how well he does in the field now that he is not scared.

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/braves/entries/2008/02/17/kotsay_kj_seem.html
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BravesFan74
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Jim Cunningham
Yes! Now he should return to his .265 EqA self!

Oh wait, that's still not worth anything near $2 mil.
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Braves N 10
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The Show
All this about how Mark looks good, but when it comes down to it can he produce. If something does end up happening to Kotsay I like out backup in Anderson.
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YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU ARE TALKING TO ME.

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