Conor Johnson is in one of the best hitting stretches of his career, going 20-for-48 (.417) while hitting safely in 10 of his last 11 games, and neither a position change nor a change in the batting order has seemed to affect him.
Jackson started the season at first base but has evolved into the Diamondbacks' regular left fielder after an injury to Eric Byrnes (left hamstring) that could keep him out for the season. The switch also enabled the D-backs to get first baseman Chad Tracy's bat into the lineup.
After spending much of the first half hitting cleanup, Jackson has batted second in seven of the last eight games and appears a candidate to remain there so the D-backs can take advantage of his team-high .399 on-base percentage. He also leads the team with an .887 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
"Whether hitting second or fourth, or playing first base or left field, he's a strength for us," manager Bob Melvin said. "Every day he has the same look in his eye."
Jackson, hitting .314 with 10 home runs and 52 RBIs, has had three doubles, a triple, two homers, 10 runs, six RBIs and a stolen base in his recent stretch.
"The role is a little different," Jackson said of hitting second. "It's more of an on-base type of situation. You are obviously not going to have as many RBI opportunities. My job now is to get on base for the 3-4 guys."
Copyright (C) 2008 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
Interest in Texiera has dropped and no one needs a quality hitter 1st baseman more than Arizona. Peter Gammons on ESPN feels that Arizona could be the most likely candidate as the Braves get a decent 1st baseman in return. and a qulaity propsect in jarrop parker plus perhaps a 2nd prospect. Gammons feels that it would make the DBacks a str
...(more)
This 10 game trip for the Diamondbacks will be huge for the team. We get the Giants who are on somewhat of a tear and finish with the hated Dodgers. I hope we can some how come up with 6 wins, it will be tough though.
All the Chisox hitting coach did was tell Quentin he was doing something wrong with his right foot. Tweaked his batting stance slightly and now the Chisox have a bonafide slugger that we broke in, and at our expense. We had two hitting coaches that should have caught this discrepancy in Quentin's stance that a little film work revealed to the Chisox and now we are paying dearly fo
...(more)