Change isn’t always welcome in a baseball clubhouse. In September rookies and prospects come up from the minors and non-contenders need to see what they have to best prepare for the next season.
The Nats’ lineup has remained relatively stable in 2011. But the recent call-ups have required some position changes. Chris Marrero came up from Triple-A Syracuse to play first base. That sent Michael Morse to left field – a move that some questioned for a player who had become comfortable at first base since taking over for the injured Adam LaRoche in May. Any coincidence that Morse’s numbers are slipping a bit at the end of the year? Or is that just a product of a long, long season? He’s still had a brilliant campaign, after all, following a rough April.
“That can happen. He’s a big guy, plays hard. Change of position that can also happen,” Washington manager Davey Johnson said. “I would have liked to occasionally give him a little breather here or there. The one time I did give him a day off he came back and hit a couple bombs. What I like to do more than anything is to get some guys [time] who’ve not been played. It’s more important to get some guys on the bench [time]. I want them to have some good feelings when the season’s over.”
Johnson acknowledged that there were some questions raised in media circles about whether moving Morse was the right thing to do. Even Morse’s agent was part of that chorus, according to Johnson. Those voices wondered if it was – as Johnson said – “cruel and unfair treatment to be moving a guy performing at a high level.”
To be fair, Morse has never said that to the media. As he has all season, he’s maintained just being in the lineup is enough. Could be a case of a guy’s agent just doing his job and standing up for his client. Certainly he wouldn’t be alone in holding that opinion anyway. But as Johnson said, Morse will have to play left next year with LaRoche returning from shoulder surgery.
“It really was kind of a one-sided conversation,” Johnson said of his talk with Morse when the switch was made at the end of August. “’You’re in left. You can still hit clean-up.’”
Johnson noted that Morse can’t complain at all about his spot in the lineup. Since starting consistently he’s been the club’s primary clean-up batter and remains so – even with a rare day off tonight against the Marlins. During a conversation in the weight room earlier this month, teammate Danny Espinosa overheard talk about Morse’s move to left and jokingly chimed in that “when [second baseman Steve] Lombardozzi gets here I won’t be moving to left, I’ll be moving next to [Johnson].”
Johnson is no wallflower, for sure. He’s the man who told the legendary Cal Ripken he had to switch to third base from shortstop when managing the Orioles in the mid-90s. Mike Bordick took over at short. Ripken didn’t want to move. But he eventually realized it was the best move for Baltimore at the time and accepted it.
“Everybody gets concerned when they have to deal with a situation that’s new and strange. But everything boils down to what’s best for the team,” Johnson said. “And in reality everyone knows that. So it’s not a real hard conversation to get across to anybody.”
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