RME JICO Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 Fields feeling more comfortable Guillen praises progress of 2004 first-round draft choice By Scott Merkin / MLB.com TUCSON, Ariz. -- Two long home runs coming off Josh Fields' bat at Tucson Electric Park probably stand out more than anything else where the third baseman is concerned during the first week of Cactus League action. But manager Ozzie Guillen points to Fields' work with the glove as the area that has truly impressed him. "We always knew this kid has good potential with the bat," said Guillen of Fields. "But the progress this kid has made from last year to this year is unbelievable, especially defensively." Fields replaced Joe Crede at third base late in Sunday's 6-5 loss to Arizona and capped off the White Sox scoring with a long two-run blast to left-center off Casey Daigle in the ninth. Fields has three hits in four at-bats early on this spring, with two clearing the fences and one going for a double. It's a much more comfortable situation for the team's first pick in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, as part of his second big league Spring Training. "You aren't completely comfortable in here, but it's definitely a better feeling," Fields said. "It was a tad bit intimidating walking into the clubhouse with these guys last year, and it actually should be more intimidating this year, since they won the World Series. "But it's relaxed and fun and the guys make you feel a lot better by saying hello. It's more relaxed for me this year." The intimidation factor also has disappeared for Fields at the plate. He worked hard on completely revamping his swing during the 2005 campaign with Double-A Birmingham, finishing with 16 home runs and 79 RBIs while hitting .252 in his first full season of only baseball. Currently, he has that swing at a confident place. "I'm glad I'm at the point where I don't feel intimidated walking up to the plate," Fields said. "I feel like I have a good chance, and that's a better feeling than being constantly frustrated." Pretty good numbers so far: AB R H RBI AVG OBP SLG OPS J Fields 3b 7 2 3 3 .429 .429 1.429 1.858 - 2B, 2 HR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevo880 Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 pretty good numbers, lets see if he can keep it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBatterz Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 It's good to have him developing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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