Rays’ Burrell eyes big turnaround
February 27, 2010
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (AP)—When Pat Burrell(notes) finally had an opportunity to sitdown and reflect on one the least productive years of his career, the Tampa BayRays slugger concluded he had no one to blame but himself.
Sure, a “slight herniation” of two discs in his neck contributed to a slowstart in 2009, but the 33-year-old designated hitter also said he let theproblem linger too long before getting the injury checked out.
A less-than-smooth transition from everyday player to DH was a factor, too,in his first American League season. Burrell again claimed responsibility fornot making adjustments necessary to be successful.
“You can’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about the past,” saidBurrell, who batted .221 with 14 home runs and 64 RBIs in 122 games afteraveraging .262 with 31 homers and 99 RBIs over the previous four seasons withthe Philadelphia Phillies.
“You want to put it behind you, but you also want to be able to build fromit,” he added. “I’ve had bad seasons before, and it is extra motivation foryou to come in and give it that much more focus and determination to turn thingsaround.”
The Rays signed Burrell to a $16 million, two-year deal in January 2009 withexpectations of adding a potent right-handed bat to the middle of a lineup thatlost to Burrell’s Phillies in the 2008 World Series.
He missed 29 games from May 11 to June 11 with what was described at thetime as a neck strain and continued to struggle after returning to the lineup.
Despite hitting .299 with six homers and 18 RBI’s during a 27-game stretchfrom July 31-Sept. 2, he never really provided the Rays the punch they desired.He fizzled down the stretch, homering twice in his last 38 games.
“I’m sure his pride was injured a bit,” manager Joe Maddon said, citing alack of familiarity with the DH role and AL pitching as factors in Burrell’sworst numbers since 2003, when he batted .209 with 21 homers and 64 RBIs in 146games with Philadelphia.
“I talk to him often, and this guy expects to play at a much higher level.He expects to be part of a winning team and he expects his team to be a winningteam,” Maddon added. “He’s pretty much always been that.”
After winning 97 games and winning the AL East 2008, the Rays won 84 andfinished third in the division last season.
Burrell reported to spring training, looking fit and eager to rebound.
“I had a lot more time this offseason to get in shape, think about the yearand make some adjustments,” said Burrell, who also worked with new Rays battingcoach Derek Shelton this winter.
“That’s no excuse or anything like that, it’s just the way it was,” headded. “I’m a lot more prepared this year as far as physically, and definitelymentally. It’s not a new team any more. There’s not all the adjustments thatcome along with it. I know what I need to do and how to go about it.”
Burrell discounted how much being a primary DH for the first time in hiscareer impacted his performance.
“It was an adjustment, but when you get in that batter’s box you have a jobto do. … Some of the down time in between (at bats) is an adjustment, but Idon’t think that was as big of an issue,” he said.
Nor does he believe a lack of familiarity with AL pitching caused hisstruggles.
“It was 100 percent me more than anything else,” Burrell said. “There aresome tendencies you can learn about pitchers throughout the season, but I’veplayed long enough to know that it’s still got to go across the plate.”
Maddon is encouraged by what he’s seen in camp and likes the chances ofBurrell, a .254 career hitter with 265 homers and 891 RBIs, improving on lastyear’s performance.
“He’s a young man, and normally the track record of success sustains itselfor maintains itself at that particular age,” the manager said.
“I think there were a lot of reasons last year wasn’t that good, but Ibelieve he’s going to bounce back well this year.”
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