Garner targets bubble players in lineups

03/01/2006
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The Grapefruit League games begin on Thursday, but Phil Garner's first lineup of the exhibition season isn't necessarily representative of the team that will take the field at Minute Maid Park on Opening Day.
Several veterans were omitted from the starting nine for Thursday's matchup with the Indians, slated to begin at 1:05 p.m. ET at Osceola County Stadium. Namely, Jeff Bagwell, Brad Ausmus and Preston Wilson won't appear in the first game.
Bagwell's initial spring appearance will be Friday in Winter Haven, as will Wilson's. Ausmus likely will play for the first time on Saturday, against the Braves.
The schedule is nothing more than an effort on Garner's part to pace his veteran players, especially Bagwell, who is still in rehab mode and will serve as the designated hitter for much of the first half of the Grapefruit season, if not longer.
It's likely Bagwell will lead off when he does play, considering the goal is to give him as many at-bats this spring as possible.
But finding playing time for those not trying out for the team this spring isn't a priority for Garner, at least not in the early going. He's more concerned with the players on the bubble, whose chances to make the club out of Spring Training may be slim now, but can increase as the season progresses.
"For veterans, they're not important at all," Garner said of the first few days of exhibition games. "Guys you know made the team, it's not important. Guys that need to make an impression, all the games are important.
"We're not going to trash you in the first week, two weeks. But what you can see is hustle, attitude, determination. Sometimes the ability to make an adjustment will show up."
Just ask Luke Scott. At this time last year, he was a virtual no-name, hoping for enough playing time at the big league level to make an impression on management before being shipped out to Minor League camp.
But Scott went on a non-stop hit barrage through the second half of March, and by the end of the exhibition season, he had earned a spot on the Opening Day roster.
Scott's odds to make the team this year are much slimmer. The outfield is crowded, with Jason Lane, Wilson and Lance Berkman as virtual locks. If Bagwell doesn't play, Berkman would move to first, which creates a little more room in the outfield. Still, that doesn't really help Scott's chances, because if Berkman moves out, Willy Taveras moves in.
Scott's best chance is to make the team as a bench player, but that will happen only if the Astros carry 11 pitchers. In all likelihood, the Astros will carry 12.
But a lot can happen between Opening Day and October. In that span last year, the Astros made 24 roster moves, most of which involved recalling a player from the Minor Leagues. That's where an organization's depth is tested, and players such as Scott have to be ready.
"They're making their assumptions and judgements on everything you do," Scott said. "You've just got to go out there and basically be yourself, do what you can do, play the game the best you can and see what happens."
In other words, the "meaningless" tag that is often placed on exhibition games doesn't apply. Wins and losses may have absolutely no bearing on a team's well-being, but these games are quite important to those very young players and the not-so-young ones who are looking for a career boost.
This spring, Garner will attempt to measure who can help the Astros, now, and down the road.
"What sometimes is hard for players to realize is that your spring leaves you with an impression," Garner said. "If you have a rotten spring, it's not necessarily a bad impression. If you have a rotten spring and you moped around and you haven't worked hard and you let it beat you down, that's not a good impression."
In other words, pouting because of a logjam at a particular position won't score you any brownie points.
"There's not too many open spots," Garner said. "If that beats you down, then I probably don't want you anyway. If you're going to let that get you down, and you're going to tell me, 'I didn't feel like I had a chance,' well, we'll see you later, pal. You're not going to be the guy that I'm thinking about if I'm going to want somebody."
The odds are tough here, anyway. What you're looking for are the guys that are going to beat the odds. They're the guys, when the game's on the line and you're facing Pedro [Martinez], you're trying to win a ballgame, I want the guy up there that doesn't believe in odds against you. I want the guy up there that says, 'I want to beat the odds.'"

Source: http://houston.astros.mlb.com/