John Buck is set to lift Miami Marlins in the absence of heat in new ballpark - MLB Update
Scorching heat John Buck had to endure behind the plate last season in South Florida does not await him this year. With the designing of a climate controlled new ballpark, at least heat is not going to hamper his concentration.
Exhausted so much that opening a bottle’s cap looked hopelessly difficult task after spending nine innings, Buck now looks back at those days with a contentment that things are not going to be the same this time.
“After that game, I go to twist the top off the bottle, and I remember my hand cramping up,” Buck said. “I looked at my hand and thought, ‘What is it doing?’”
Marlins had been an unfriendly place for catchers for the last 19 years in the summer and with the inauguration of new Marlins Park where heat has been mitigated, catchers will have now relatively easier time there.
“It’s going to be easier on the body,” said Buck.
Not only the terrible heat haunts him, hopelessly below par performance with the bat when he hit just a .208 batting average also reminds him of how his form plunged all of a sudden.
Languished by the heat, he was exploited rightfully by pitchers who kept hoodwinking him one way or the other and made it difficult for him to get reasonable amount of hits. No wonder, he finished with a career high 54 walks, perhaps only he was allowed
to have.
Among the reasons articulated behind his last year poor show, along with unbearable heat, the fact he was overdoing his work to impress the club after being awarded a three year contract and a transition from American League to National League also inhibited
his performance in many ways.
“All that stuff,” Buck said.
As regard to his club Miami Marlins, he believes it was players’ inability to control steals and lack of concentration that led to club’s failure. While admitting his role, he said he may have sent more throws toward bases to rein in the runners.
“We have made that a priority this spring as far as holding runners,” Buck said.
While heat is not going to be a factor, it will be interesting to see how Buck fares behind the plate and to what extent he will prove that extreme humidity was one of the biggest factors that his talent did not unleash last year.
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