Griffey to start in right (FOXSports.com)

[Guest oldschooler]

[quote][size=5][b]Around the horn: Griffey to start in right [/b][/size]

Ken Rosenthal / FOXSports.com


When the Reds' Ken Griffey Jr. makes his Grapefruit League debut, it will be in right field, according to a source with knowledge of his situation. Griffey, recovering from a broken left hand, does not mind shifting from center to right, the source said. However, Griffey was under the impression that the Reds would delay their decision until midway through spring training while attempting to acquire a legitimate center fielder. Instead, he learned at the start of camp that he would be in right.[/quote]



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[Guest oldschooler]

[quote][size=5][b]Reds hope to play Griffey this week[/b][/size]
BY JOHN FAY | JFAY@ENQUIRER.COM

LAKELAND, Fla. – The hope now is that Ken Griffey Jr. will play in a game by week’s end.

“He’s been taking batting practice,” Reds manager Jerry Narron said. “He’s still sore. Hopefully, we get him out there some time this week.”

Griffey has not played in any of the Reds 17 spring training games. He’s still dealing with the aftereffects of the broken left hand he suffered in December.


Narron was asked if there’s a drop-dead date by which Griffey has to play in order to avoid starting the year on the disabled list.

“Probably,” Narron said. “But we’ll see where he is the next few days. The one thing he has had going for him is he’s been able to see live pitching in simulated games.”

[b]A report on foxsports.com Monday said Griffey has been told that when he plays he’ll play right field.

“He has?” Narron said.

Both Narron and general manager Wayne Krivsky said they were not the source of the report.

Narron chose not to answer the right vs. center question directly.

“To be honest with you, right now we’re just waiting to see if he play,” Narron said.[/b]

The call as to when he’ll play has been Griffey’s since the beginning of camp.

“Whenever he says he’s ready to go, we’re going to do whatever we can to get him in the lineup,” Narron said.

After today’s off day, the Reds are down to 11 days of games before Opening Day.[/quote]



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[|Bunghole|]

I just heard on Homer on the way home from work on Lance's show that it's been officially confirmed that Griff will "play" (quotes added for emphasis on likely lack of playing time due to various bizarre gardening accidents) in right field, with Freel at CF.
Whoopee.

[Guest oldschooler]

Now Narron is confirming the report...


[quote][size=5][b]Griffey will play right field[/b][/size]
BY JOHN FAY | JFAY@ENQUIRER.COM


LAKELAND, Fla. – [b]If Ken Griffey Jr. can play in a game by week’s end, he'll play in right field, Reds manager Jerry Narron said.

The Reds came into spring training considering Griffey one of the options in center field, but because he hasn’t played yet that option is no longer there.

“We would have liked to give Junior a chance to play center field,” Narron said. “But he’s been hurt, we’re getting to the point where we need to get our lineup out there. We’ve got to get the club ready. That’s the whole thing.”


Narron thinks the Reds’ best lineup defensively is with Ryan Freel in center field.

“It’s a decision I made,” he said. “I didn’t take it lightly. I’ve talked to people around baseball.”[/b]

As to when Griffey plays, it’s unclear.

“He’s been taking batting practice,” Narron said. “He’s still sore. Hopefully, we get him out there some time this week.”

Griffey has not played in any of the Reds 17 spring training games. He’s still dealing with the aftereffects of the broken left hand he suffered in the December.

Narron was asked if there’s a date certain by which Griffey has to play in order to avoid starting the year on the disabled list.

“Probably,” Narron said. “But we’ll see where he is the next few days. The one thing he has had going for him is he’s been able to see live pitching in simulated games.”

Narron said he talked to Griffey about the possibility of moving to right field early in spring training.


The call as to when he’ll play has been Griffey’s since the beginning of camp, and now he knows when he plays it will be in right field.

“Whenever he says he’s ready to go, we’re going to do whatever we can to get him in the lineup,” Narron said.

After today’s off day, the Reds are down to 11 days of games before Opening Day.[/quote]



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[JC]

Where does Hamilton stand in all of this? He should probably see a lot of playing time with the spring he had.

[The Entertainer]

[quote][size=3][b]Right Again [/b][/size]


The Griffey situation is just getting weird. Apparently, Jerry Narron has known all spring that Griffey would be playing right field. Apparently, Griffey has known it, too. The question then is, why withhold the information?

The safe assumption is that it was out of respect for Griffey, who is about as proud as he is talented. The signs all suggest that Griffey was looking for a graceful, face-saving way of moving over – preferably in the form of an established center fielder acquired in a trade. Then, Griffey could do the magnanimous thing and volunteer to shift over to right field to allow the new guy to stay in center.

The trade, of course, has not been forthcoming, which makes you wonder if that’s why Griffey’s hand injury has continued to keep him out of exhibition games, even after he has been taking live batting practice.

The whole scenario makes me think back a couple weeks, when I was in Sarasota talking informally to a high-ranking Reds executive. I mentioned off-handedly that the club seemed in need of a steady, everyday center fielder to take the pressure off Griffey’s body and permit him to play a less demanding position. Unsolicited and without hesitation, the executive brought up Josh Hamilton’s name. Even then -- before the games had started and Hamilton's batting average soared over .500 -- there was a palpable hope that he would provide a solution in center field.

Monday, Narron mentioned Ryan Freel as the starting center fielder; and he had the right guy. For now. But we all know that Freel, as hard and well as he plays, is not a 150-game guy. If Hamilton can stay clean and healthy, he clearly is.

[b]And on that score, check out what the major-league scouts have been saying about Hamilton, courtesy of Bill Madden in the New York Daily News. According to Madden, the old pros were sitting around a dining table at Legends Field in Tampa when Deacon Jones, a long-time advance scout for the Baltimore Orioles, blurted out with this:

“Josh Hamilton is the story of this spring training. The guy is not to be believed. I saw him the other night, with that power, that bat speed, that plate discipline and then that throwing arm, and I said, ‘Whoa. What is this? This guy might be the best I’ve ever seen.’ At one point, I got up and yelled to him, ‘This game ain’t this damn easy!’ ’’

Sitting across the table was Gene Michael, the Yankees’ vice-president of scouting, who picked up the tune from there: “He’s legitimate five tools. It’s all there, and he hasn’t lost anything, from what I’ve seen. The Reds got themselves a tremendous player, but it’s always going to be a question. The drugs are always going to be there, waiting to get to him again.”

At any rate, the Reds’ outfield is a long way from coming together. That said, you can’t help but indulge your imagination as it contemplates a spread of Dunn, Hamilton and Griffey. The potential power there – the pure baseball prowess – is almost incalculable.

It’s almost frightening, in fact. It’s almost weird.[/b]

By Lonnie at 7:49 PM[/quote]



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