Give Shortstop A Longer Look
By Gordon Edes
The Boston Globe
May 02, 2005
ARLINGTON, Texas - A month into the season, this is not what the
Red Sox were
expecting of their biggest investment of the winter, the $40 million
they gave
their new shortstop, Edgar Renteria.
He takes a .227 average into Detroit tonight for the start of a
four-game
series against the Tigers, which ranks him 24th among all major league
shortstops with 50 or more at-bats. He's 19th in OPS (on-base plus
slugging
percentage), 12th in RBIs, is batting just .167 (5 for 30) with runners
in
scoring position, and his four errors, including the one he made in
yesterday's
6-5 win over the Texas Rangers, is a total exceeded by only three other
American
League shortstops.
For fans spoiled by eight years of watching Nomar
Garciaparra's excellence
and three months of Orlando Cabrera's circus act, Renteria's
introduction to the
Sox has been jarring. The early returns suggest that his manager in St.
Louis,
Tony La Russa, was prescient in suggesting that high-intensity Boston
might not
be a comfortable fit for a low-key player like Renteria.
But from one end of the Sox clubhouse to the other yesterday
afternoon, a
sampling of those who either played with Renteria (Kevin Millar),
played against
him in the National League (Matt Clement, Mike Myers), or have managed
with him
and against him (Terry Francona), were unanimous in judging Renteria's
early
struggles a temporary condition.
"I think we've seen bits and pieces of what he can do," said
Clement, whose
six-inning tightrope walk earned him the win yesterday, "but he's a guy
I don't
worry about. It absolutely shocked me to death, that ball he missed [a
sixth-inning double play ball he booted]. That's just not going to
happen. But
he also made that unbelievable play [a tough chance in the fourth after
a
leadoff single by Kevin Mench] that really saved me.
"Edgar is going to be fine. I'm telling you, he's as good an
all-around
shortstop as anybody I've ever seen. I'll stand by that. You know,
there were a
couple of guys I wanted a chance to play with when I signed. One was
'Tek [Jason
Varitek]. Another was Mike Matheny [the ex-Cardinals catcher who signed
with the
Giants], and Edgar was one, too. For me, it's exciting that we wound up
at the
same place, to have someone like that playing behind me."
Clement, like Renteria, is adjusting to playing in a new league,
trying to
make a good impression on a new set of teammates.
"Obviously [Renteria] hasn't played yet the way he's capable of,
and it
probably does take time," said Millar, who was Renteria's teammate on
the
Florida Marlins and played against him when Renteria went to the
Cardinals. "A
lot of guys need more than 70 at-bats to do it. You'd have to ask Edgar
how he's
handling the change, but this guy's special. He's a professional who's
been
through the trenches - I'm not worried about Edgar."
Myers, who pitched against Renteria, said that with the
Cardinals, Renteria
frequently was used in hit-and-run situations batting behind Tony
Womack, which
put pressure on the infielders who had to pinch in, opening the field
more for
Renteria to punch balls through. "There is an adjustment coming to
another
league," Myers said, "and there's so many other factors to consider. A
lot of
guys, when they've just signed the longest contract of their careers,
want to be
so good right away. He's already had a few clutch hits for us, and it's
when you
need a clutch hit, that's when he's the biggest pain in the butt to
pitch to.
That's why I'm glad he's on our side."
Renteria is much more reserved than the chatty Cabrera but does
not exhibit
the reclusive tendencies that Garciaparra showed at the end of his Sox
tenure,
usually spending his time before games talking with David Ortiz, Manny
Ramirez,
and batting-practice pitcher Ino Guerrero. He has shown signs of
emerging from
his slow start. He had three straight two-hit games in mid-April before
his
average dipped to .201, but has hits in seven of his last eight games
(9 for 33,
.273), including a single to load the bases in the fifth yesterday,
when the Sox
scored four times, and a bunt single in the eighth Saturday night, the
first by
a Sox player this season, which was a catalyst to a three-run rally.
"It's been different," he said of finding his way with the Sox,
"but when you
're struggling, it doesn't matter if you're here or the National League
or
Japan."
No, he said, the contract is not a burden. "I'm not that way," he
said. "It
doesn't matter if you're paying me a dollar, I play the game the same
way. The
money I don't think about."
Francona said Renteria has been "fighting it a little bit, but
there's going
to be a point where he's going to pick it up, because he's a great
player. A guy
like that is going to get to his level . . . that's just the way it
is."
Beware of making a hasty judgment, even if Renteria's .228 in
April was the
fourth-worst month of his career (.200 in September 1998, .214 in April
1997,
.218 in June 2001). You could field an all-star team with the good
players who
struggled in the first month of the season: Aaron "Bleeping" Boone
began the day
hitting .123 for the Indians, the lowest average among qualifiers in
the major
leagues. Steve Finley, a big-name free agent signing, was hitting .149
for the
Angels. Phillies strongman Jim Thome was batting .203 with a home run.
A's
superstar Eric Chavez was at .194, Marlins slugger Mike Lowell at .198.
"I know it's going to come," Renteria said. "Sooner or later it's
going to
come. I'm worried a little bit, because that's not me, you know. That
bothers me
a little bit. But it will come."
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