Unlucky Bartlett still 0-for-spring
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. – Jason Bartlett still hasn't caught a fly ball. And he hasn't hit one that wasn't caught.
It's been that kind of spring for the veteran utility man.
"I've been through it before," Bartlett said, shrugging. "They fall eventually."
Maybe. But for the 34-year-old Bartlett, trying to return to the majors after a year out of baseball, his bad luck couldn't come at a worse time. He's battling for a back-up-every-position role on the Twins, and Eduardo Escobar, perhaps his main competition for a spot, singled home two runs Saturday.
Bartlett? He rocketed a screaming line drive toward left field that Mets third baseman Josh Satin dived to catch, and pounded a one-hopper up the middle that pitcher Gonzalez Germen speared. Two hard-hit balls, but he took home an 0-for-4 that brings his spring total to an ugly 0-for-23.
"I told my wife, 'I just want to start hitting the ball hard,' and all of a sudden I am," said Bartlett, who crushed two fly balls against the Orioles on Friday, both of them caught on the run. "I feel really good. I'm seeing the ball well, squaring it up. And they won't fall."
He consoles himself with the knowledge that "the coaches see what's happening, they see everything," he said. And manager Ron Gardenhire agreed, saying, "Rockets. That's what we want to see."
"We're looking for experience and veteran leadership, and he does all those things," the manager said. "Now, does he have the ability to get back to where he was or close to it? That's what we're looking for."