The Rockies let catcher Joe Girardi go to the Yankees, figuring Owens was ready to assume full-time catching duties, even though he’d never caught more than 97 games on any level. But now Owens, who hit two home runs in his first start last August, has gone down with a torn ligament in his thumb and may be out as long as three months. That leaves the catching in the hands of former Expo Jeff Reed.
Old hand: Larry Walker
Walker is the pivotal figure in Don Baylor’s successful experiment this spring, in which he shuffled his outfielders and put Walker in center field. Baylor felt Walker was more of a take charge type of outfielder who gets a good jump on the ball. He has handled the transition beautifully, and in hitter-friendly Coors Field he has a good shot to improve career highs in home runs (36) and RBI (101).
A word from the manager
Don Baylor, on winning Manager of the Year last season: “Normally, what happens to an expansion manager is he’s not around to receive the accolades. He’s already fired and on his third or fourth job by now. To have it happen this way is kind of special.”
