Josh Vitters’ performance at third base will be key for the Chicago Cubs – MLB News
Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals will play the finale of their three-game series on Friday, September 21. Challenges abound for the Cubs as the team is looking to put up a strong defence and offence to compete with their rivals, the Cardinals.
While the 2012 regular season is nearing an end, the Chicago Cubs are looking to the younger players to solidify not only the club, but also their positions in the team. One such players that the Cubs are hoping to perform solidly is rookie Josh Bitters.
Playing at third base, the player has both struggled and performed well on occasions. But consistency is what the team needs in the player. The Cubs, among other things, do not want to end this season with 100-losses, which happened last year.
This season, there was a combination of young players under the aegis of experienced players. That combination, the Cubs hope, will transform the team into a stronger unit to compete with the rivals in the years to come.
Vitters, a young third baseman, is a player with talent and the one to execute fundamentals of the game.
"When you play third base, or any position, for certain people, they can do things by the book," Cubs' manager Dale Sveum said. "When you play third base, it's more spontaneous, as far as how you get the job done. You watch some of the great third basemen of all time, none of them were the prototypical, the way you teach infield play.”
He has got the assistance of the infield coach Pat Lisatch. Footwork and throwing are what the coach is looking for Vitters to improve. The team manager believes sometimes it takes time to figure out.
"We don't care how it gets done, just get it done," Sveum said. "I turned into much more of a guy who threw on the run and threw sidearm. I had a really strong arm, but I wasn't as accurate when I got on top as when I threw sidearm.”
It will be interesting to see how Vitters performs in the remaining games of the season and how well he does in the long run.
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