We know about Manzella's overcoming adversity in the loss of his mother, and how Katrina destroyed his home, and we respect those things greatly. But in Fallas' article on Manzella, he explains that Mills is pleased with how Manzella is coming along, and Manzella knows how everyone will be focused on whether or not he can hit:
Hitting is the one thing I'm probably going to be judged the most on, just because athletes are always judged on what people perceive their weakest attribute to be. In my mind, I don't look myself as a defensive player; I look at myself as a good, all-around shortstop. I take pride in the fact that I have a lot of confidence in myself, and really, when I'm at the plate, the only thing that matters is, do I believe I can hit? I know I can hit.”
Manzella benefited from a .340 BABIP in Round Rock in '09, and we can expect some regression over his .289 average last year. But I don't know that he'll be as bad as CHONE expects, projecting a .244/.295/.349 line for Manzella. He only walked in 6.9% of his PAs last year, and that's going to need to come up. Otherwise, we can only wait and see...
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
