San Diego Padres’ Chase Headley looks forward to challenges of 2013 season - MLB News
Chase Headley was not only the star of the show for the San Diego Padres last season but also for all of the National League. He was truly the poster boy of the resurgence the San Diego ballclub showed in the latter half of the year.
Chase, who had the highest number of RBI’s with 115 last season in all of the National League, is once again all set to go for the 2013. The switch hitter was instrumental in the 49-37 record by the Padres in the last 86 games of the regular season. Chase
was, on account of his brilliant performance, NL Player of the Month in consecutive months in August and September.
There is a lot of hope and expectation associated with the 28-year-old and he is surely aware of it. He wants his game to be similar to his performance in the latter part of the previous season.
"Offensively, I want to be the kind of the hitter I was in the second half of the year," Headley said. "That [includes] making sure I'm aggressive from the first pitch, right when I get in the box, every single time.”
Chase is looking to cut down on the strike-outs and wants to take the attack to the opposing pitchers. He has an aggressive mindset which can help him dominate opposing pitchers.
Phil Plantier, the hitting coach for the Padres is confident that Headley has the ability to produce the kind of results he has shown last year on a regular basis. He is adamant that the heroics last year were not a fluke and the hitter has what it takes
to perform at the top on a consistent basis.
The third baseman who won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award last year, wants to improve his ability to field further. He sees that there were a couple of chinks in his armour and is working hard to remove any flaws in his technique.
Chase also said that he is working on a couple of particular plays in the field that will be beneficial. He also wants to add speed to his throwing time to get more chances of affecting a play.
"Defensively, there are a couple of plays, specifically, I want to work on -- going to my glove side, working on the chopper double-play," he said. "It seems like watching film from last year that I bobbled that a few times or didn't get rid of it as quick
as I wanted to."
Chase Headley is certainly someone that the Padres will be looking forward to for a good performance in the upcoming season. He has all the tools and last season has shown that he knows how to use them. One hopes that he utilises all his skills and takes
his team to the next level in the 2013 season.
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