Ask Bob - Barrett & Wuertz
How has Michael Barrett improved defensively this year?
I think it's a combination of a couple of different things. Number one - experience. He knows the pitching staff a little better. He can get himself into a better throwing position on steals knowing what a pitcher's pitch is likely to do as it comes to the plate. The second part of it is that he worked at it extremely hard in spring training. He was down in the bullpen every day with with bullpen coach Juan Lopez and they were either working on blocking balls in the dirt or footwork or just talking about calling a game and how to keep a pitcher focused and how to keep his concentration on the mound. Experience is part of it, but more than anything else, it's just hard work.
Would Michael Wuertz be a candidate to be a closer in the future?
Wuertz has spent some time as a closer in the minor leagues before and had some success at it, so it's a possibility. I think for the time being, Dusty and his staff are still content that LaTroy Hawkins is the guy they're going to go to in the 9th inning with a lead. Given the fact that Wuertz has done it at the minor league level, he knows what it means to get those last three outs of the game. I think it's something he could do, but in order to do that, he's got to become more consistent with his pitches. For instance, sometimes he'll put two really nasty sliders and then he'll hang one or spot two great fastballs, then lose one right down the middle. The key will be to develop consistency with his delivery and consistency with his location.