Cards to work on Russell's swing
Branyan back in there: One day after making a couple of nifty plays in the field and slugging a home run, third baseman Russell Branyan was back in the starting lineup.
With Scott Rolen on the DL with season-ending surgery, Branyan is the only natural third baseman on the Cards roster. However, La Russa said he wasn't sure how much Branyan would play over the final month of the season with Brendan Ryan and Miguel Cairo able to fill in at third whenever needed, even though it's not their natural position.
La Russa said hitting coach Hal McRae has been working with Branyan to change his swing a bit. Branyan has the reputation of being an all-or-nothing hitter, with a lifetime average of .231 with 121 homers in less than 700 career games.
"A guy can change. The reason is -- he has a pile of experience," La Russa said. "You can use that experience. You can take all that and listen to somebody that can fine tune you. I definitely think it's possible. I think it's easier than somebody that doesn't have experience. Only if he wants to."
La Russa said Mark McGwire was a classic case and said he was a much better hitter over the last two years of his career than he was when he first came up.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070905&content_id=2191726&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
With Scott Rolen on the DL with season-ending surgery, Branyan is the only natural third baseman on the Cards roster. However, La Russa said he wasn't sure how much Branyan would play over the final month of the season with Brendan Ryan and Miguel Cairo able to fill in at third whenever needed, even though it's not their natural position.
La Russa said hitting coach Hal McRae has been working with Branyan to change his swing a bit. Branyan has the reputation of being an all-or-nothing hitter, with a lifetime average of .231 with 121 homers in less than 700 career games.
"A guy can change. The reason is -- he has a pile of experience," La Russa said. "You can use that experience. You can take all that and listen to somebody that can fine tune you. I definitely think it's possible. I think it's easier than somebody that doesn't have experience. Only if he wants to."
La Russa said Mark McGwire was a classic case and said he was a much better hitter over the last two years of his career than he was when he first came up.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070905&content_id=2191726&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb