It’s likely Hunter Pence will spend a few more days watching “Sometimes reflection helps a young player,” Cooper said. “He looked like he was on his way, but the last two, three days, he kind of stepped back a little bit.”
Cooper also has asked several of those veterans to spend a little extra time with the youngsters, (who are struggling at the plate) even if it’s just to share past experiences and offer encouragement. Geoff Blum and Mark Loretta have reached out to Bourn, while Darin Erstad has spent a bit of time with Pence.
“[Blum] said, ‘Keep going, keep plugging away,'” Bourn said. “Loretta told me the exact same line. Lance [Berkman] doesn’t want to press on you and try to make you do this and make you do that. I understand.”
Still, Bourn wouldn’t mind a few pointers.
“Nobody’s said too, too much — just ‘Hey, keep going,” Bourn said, adding with a laugh, “I’m like, ‘Tell me something. Tell me what I’m doing wrong.'”
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“What’s the magic secret?!” Here’s your answer boys, after you have success, such as winning 3 Gold Gloves, then you can coast, oh…no you can’t,
Darin Erstad prefers fielding batting practice fly balls rather than those coaches hit off fungoes, so his only option is to show up early when select teammates are taking a few extra rounds of batting practice. He shags fly balls at every outfield position, which gives him ample opportunity to work on the different angles and slices that each position presents.
“I’m very routine-oriented as far as getting ready to play,” Erstad said. “It is an uncomfortable feeling not having those reps. As much as I can eliminate that, I’m going to try to.”
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Self censorship
Cooper spoke briefly with third-base umpire Paul Schneider, who completely missed Towles’ “double” clearing the fence by at least a foot.
“I thought it was a home run,” Cooper said. “I thought it hit a fan and came back. [Schneider] said no. He said he didn’t have it that way. That’s the way it goes. I’m not arguing about those anymore.”
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Cassel learns, Cooper hates walks
About pulling Cassel before he had 5 innings and the chance to get a W;
“He had a chance to get a win right there,” Cooper said. “You can’t walk guys right there. That brings the tying run to the plate, and you can’t do that. That’s why we decided to do that.”
Cassel kept his comments brief, but it was obvious he didn’t agree with Cooper’s decision.
“All I’ll say is I was confident I could get the last out,” Cassel said. “That’s all I can say about that. It’s skipper’s decision, and we won the game and it proved to be the right one. But I was confident that I could have gotten that out.”
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Were you not listening during ST Jack? Here’s what Cooper said last season,
“No walks. We can’t defend if a guy walks. Let him hit it out. Walks fuel rallies. Solo homers kill rallies.”
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