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Ryan Church had a bad spring last year and started the season in Triple-A, |
BY TODD JACOBSON
VIERA, Fla.
--The Nationals' left-field job may be Ryan Church's to lose this spring, but you won't see the 28-year-old getting overconfident this time around.He made that mistake once before. It cost him an entire season.
"I am not getting caught up in that," Church said. "I am going to earn it."
Church is one of four players competing to replace Alfonso Soriano in left field, but Nationals manager Manny Acta said last week that Church has the edge on Chris Snelling, Alex Escobar and rookie Kory Casto.
"I just think he is the farthest advanced, and the numbers he put up last year in his limited time shows he should be the guy, and this will tell us whether he is going to be who we think he can be: become a fourth outfielder or a regular guy," Acta said.
It's no guarantee, but it's a vote of confidence for Church, who has long flashed promise during parts of three years in the majors but has been dogged by injuries and inconsistency.
After he hit .287 in 2005--his first full season in the majors--he was the favorite to be the Nationals' starting center fielder in spring training a year ago. But as he sat in front of his locker yesterday, he admitted taking things too lightly during camp, acting like a veteran when no job had been promised to him.
A lackluster spring earned him a call to then-manager Frank Robinson's office and he was demoted to Triple-A New Orleans, and though he eventually made it back to the big leagues, hitting .276 with 10 homers in 71 games, two separate trips to the minors rattled him.
"I just feed off it. I don't want to give them any doubts or what-ifs," Church said. "Just seeing me maybe dogging it during a drill--I don't want to give them any ammunition to say, 'You were dogging it here or dogging it in that game. You took at-bats off.'"
That's why Church was among the first position players to arrive in Viera, making the long drive from northern Ohio at the end of January. Before most pitchers had arrived, Church jogged onto the fields at the Nationals' training complex, knowing the stakes.
"There are spots open," he said. "I want to earn it and I don't want to be called in there and be told you are going down."
Arbitration updateIt may have been a small victory, but on the day pitchers and catchers reported to training camp, the Nationals beat right-hander John Patterson in an arbitration hearing.
Patterson, whose breakout season in 2005 was tempered by an injury-filled 2006, had asked for $1.85 million in the hearing; the team countered with $850,000, and a three-person arbitration panel ruled in the Nationals' favor yesterday.
Patterson made $450,000 last season.
The Nationals have two remaining unsigned players--third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and closer Chad Cordero. Zimmerman is not eligible for arbitration and should sign a contract soon, but Cordero's arbitration hearing will be Feb. 20 in Phoenix.
However, he didn't discount working things out before the hearing, and said his agent and the Nationals discussed the possibility of a long-term deal last week.
"If I get something done with that, great," Cordero said. "If not, I will go to Arizona."
Extra basesReliever Luis Ayala reported to camp yesterday and said he was fully recovered from ligament replacement surgery in his right elbow. "I feel great," said Ayala, who missed all of last season after undergoing surgery in March. "I paid the price. I did my workouts all offseason."
Though Ayala said he feels fine, the Nationals will be careful not to overwork the reliever at first. He'll be limited to 25 pitches in his next few throwing sessions.
Todd Jacobson: 540/735-
Email: 1974tjacobson@freelancestar.com
