As we reported here recently, Chipper Jones planned to be back in the batting cage soon. I’m very happy to report that he has indeed started work in the cage and is extremely pleased with the results. If you’d like to see footage of his swing, take a look at the clip posted over on ajc.com.
It seems that all the observers of his first session, including Frank Wren, Peter Moylan, Mark DeRosa, and Brian McCann, came away impressed. Chipper declared his knee sound and that he would be the Braves Opening Day third baseman (note: I’m still not sure what happened to his one day suspension for “arguing” with umpires while not in uniform).
I’d really like to see more footage than what was shown in the clip. To me, the swing looked like that of someone who hadn’t been in the batter’s box in a while. Most notably, it didn’t look like he was comfortable with the follow through, which is to be expected, I would guess, given what he’s coming back from. But there is just so much that can be gleaned from a few swings, no matter how many times you view them.
As you may recall, I’m in the camp that thinks the Chipper we saw for his last 6-8 weeks last year is the Chipper we’ll see this year. But I didn’t get to that opinion from viewing this session in the cage. I tend to take these things with a grain a salt, mostly as spring training hype builders. Remember when every year’s early articles were about how thin Andruw was going to report at?
I am going to be in Las Vegas next week at the SHOT (Shooting/Hunting/Outdoor Trade) Show in Las Vegas, as part of my “real job”. Chipper is usually there promoting some products that he, Adam LaRoche, and a few others own and market. I have spoken with him there in past years and hope to be able to do so again this year. Maybe we’ll have some inside scoop; who knows?
In the meantime, feel free to chime in with any thoughts you may have.
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