News
Cubs' Theriot focused on strong finish
Shortstop looks to wrap up campaign on positive note
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
09/10/09 2:00 PM ET
CHICAGO -- The key, Ryan Theriot was saying, may be the bat. And with that, the Cubs shortstop swiveled the latest one he's been taking for a test run to show the name on the side. It was a Mark DeRosa model that his ex-teammate left behind in Pittsburgh after the St. Louis Cardinals' weekend trip to PNC Park. Cubs hitting coach Von Joshua suggested a switch. DeRosa's bat is more balanced than the one Theriot had been using, which was more top heavy. And the tweak could help the shortstop finish strong and give him something positive to build on for 2010. Theriot, 29, is wrapping up his third full season in the big leagues. He's had to grow up fast. An engaging personality, Theriot is a good postgame quote. But it was a lot easier to talk in 2008, when the Cubs were en route to their second National League Central title. It's been a lot tougher this year. "When we went through this in '06, I wasn't one of the guys who got asked many questions, so I never really had to answer," Theriot said. "I like to be there for [the media] and give you what you need. It's hard from a competitor's, from a player's standpoint, to continue to talk about the negatives, and that's almost what it felt like, especially at home. "It's almost like Groundhog Day," he said. "You psyche yourself out, is what you do, and convince yourself 'Today's the day,' and you go out and play your butt off, and if it works, great, and if it doesn't, then you spend 30 minutes after the game convincing yourself that tomorrow's going to be the day, and you work a little harder the next day. If it is, great, and if not, it's Groundhog Day again." Theriot admits he got into bad habits at the plate trying to do too much to help the Cubs get back on track. "It's only natural," Theriot said. "The team's not winning. You want to be the guy to get everybody going. I like that more than laying down and not trying. You want to help, you want to be that guy. This season has been disappointing for everybody. It really has been." Theriot, who was batting .288, already has set career highs this season in home runs (seven) and RBIs (51), but also in strikeouts. His strikeout/walk ratio has flip-flopped from 58 Ks and 73 walks in 2008 to 83 strikeouts and 36 walks this year. "I've definitely tried to drive the ball more, and I've accomplished that -- more homers, more RBIs -- so that would probably be my explanation to the strikeouts vs. walks," Theriot said. "I'm just being more aggressive, more offensive when I'm at the plate. "But I hate it," he said. "I hate striking out, I really do." Joshua -- and the Cubs -- don't like it either. Before replacing Gerald Perry on the big league team, Joshua would watch Theriot's at-bats on TV and thought the young infielder was trying to clear the fence with each swing. "When I first got here," Joshua said, "I said, 'You've got to do what got you here. There are four guys in that lineup who are paid to hit the ball out of the ballpark.' For me, I'd like to see him concentrate on getting 200 hits. I said, 'Ryno, when you're in the Major Leagues for a few years and you learn the pitchers and you get a little stronger, you'll hit 15, 20 home runs along with your 200 hits.'" Even though the Cubs don't have a realistic chance at reaching the postseason for the third straight year, Theriot isn't done. He's working even harder. "I've learned more in the last two weeks about my swing than I have the whole season," he said Tuesday. He and Joshua are fine-tuning his mechanics. The shortstop tends to alter his stance, which is not necessarily a good thing. "You know how sometimes you have to really struggle to figure out the good stuff?" Theriot said. "Not that I was ever really struggling or searching, but I've always been able to go up there with a few different approaches and have success. There was my 'spread out, get a base hit, get on base approach' and there was my 'little bit more narrow, aggressive try to get 'em in approach.' Finding that middle ground is the goal." Theriot still experiments. During an at-bat in the just completed Pittsburgh series, Theriot was wiggling his bat at the plate. Even bench coach Alan Trammell asked Joshua what the heck was going on. The emphasis is on being better balanced and more relaxed. Joshua has given Theriot a good example to study in Chase Utley. "For me, he's one of the best guys the way he looks in the batter's box and the way he gets prepared and ready for a pitch," Joshua said of the Phillies second baseman. "He's a very disciplined hitter and doesn't go out of the strike zone," Theriot said of Utley. "He's got a very short swing, and he's rarely fooled. I feel like from an offensive standpoint, he's very disciplined and he doesn't waiver from his approach and swing. "He's a good one for me to watch right now. Hopefully, the next three, four weeks, I can get right back on track and finish strong."Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
