Dusty Baker
Dusty Baker
Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker, Jr.is an American Major League Baseball manager and former player. He is currently the manager for the Washington Nationals. He enjoyed a 19-year career as a hard-hitting outfielder, primarily with the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. He helped the Dodgers to pennants in 1977 and 1978 and to the championship in 1981. He then enjoyed a 20-year career as a manager with the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and now Washington Nationals. He...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth15 June 1949
CityRiverside, CA
CountryUnited States of America
He likes doing that. He's actually been pretty good at it. Right now, we're using him like that. I'm not sure if that's how he'll pitch. We're trying to get guys innings.
I'm trying to do something day to day to find out the best lineup. I'd prefer not to change every day.
I want Jerry to play second base or left field, ... If there is a tough left-hander, he will play left.
There's progress. He's going to try to push it a little bit this week to find out exactly where he is. Hopefully, he'll be on the field doing some fielding and throwing. He's doing some light running. The running part is the difficult part. He's working around the clock.
You don't know what could transpire. You might need both of them. Some of it depends on the progress and health of the other guys.
He threw the ball pretty good. He was better the second inning than the first. The important thing was, he was on the mound. I thought he did pretty good.
The field's a lot faster than ours. That ball got to him a lot quicker than he expected. We'll try to get him some more time at second base, especially with the split squad coming up here.
I want Jerry to play second base or left field. If there is a tough left-hander, he will play left.
Missing almost the second half of the season last year really slowed his progress some. Skill-wise, he has the skill. We know that. It's just a matter of him playing and doing the little things. He works hard.
I'm looking for health, I'm looking for bat speed, I'm looking for leg speed. It's hard to compare a youngster to a veteran player in Spring Training. The advantage always goes to the young player. There are some things I'm looking for. You want to see progress as spring goes on. I've got a pretty good idea of what he can do. I'm looking for what's left.