Tucson – For a guy with “fankles,” third baseman Garrett Atkins is a pretty darn good hitter.
“Look at him, he’s got fat ankles – ‘fankles,”‘ teased Rockies first baseman Todd Helton. “How can a guy hit or run on those fankles?”
But ask Helton about Atkins’ prowess at the plate, and he gets serious.
“He’s good, and he’s going to be a lot better. He’s got a great swing,” said Helton, a lifetime .337 hitter.
Atkins’ continued improvement is a cornerstone of the Rockies’ rebuilding blueprint. Slotted in the No. 5 spot behind Helton and cleanup hitter Matt Holliday, the second-year player is being counted on to jump-start an offense that stalled in 2005.
With his silky swing, upper-body strength and hitting pedigree, it seems a given Atkins will not be cursed by a sophomore slump. His fielding, a major question mark at this time last season, has been solid.
Of course, nothing is a given in the big leagues, and Atkins knows it.
“I have to be more consistent,” said Atkins, 26. “When opportunities come my way, I have to be able to take advantage of them. I still have things to work on.”
For instance, Atkins’ 2005 road batting average of .238 was 101 points lower than his home average. And his bat wilted in the midsummer heat. He hit .218 with no homers and only 10 RBIs during July.
Atkins has one stated numerical goal this season: Hit .300. Do that, he said, and the rest – homers, RBIs, timely hits – will come naturally.
Last season, he hit .289 and drove in a team-best 89 runs, the most by a National League rookie since St. Louis’ Albert Pujols knocked in 130 in 2001, despite missing most of April with a hamstring injury.
Philadelphia star second baseman Chase Utley, Atkins’ teammate at UCLA and offseason workout partner, predicts stardom for his friend.
“He is a special hitter,” Utley said. “Trust me, you have not seen the best of Garrett Atkins yet.”
Rockies hitting coach Duane Espy concurs, saying he doesn’t need to do much with Atkins except keep him on the right track.
“Tony Gwynn said to me one time, ‘I figured out best what I did early on in my career, and I just kept trying to do it,”‘ Espy said. “I think that’s true with Garrett. His swing is pretty. It’s fluid, and it’s always very much under control. He has that innate ability to get the barrel of the bat on the ball. So I think we just keep doing what we’re doing.”
While many describe Atkins as a natural-born hitter, his third-base skills don’t elicit the same reaction. But he has worked hard to get better, and it’s paying off. Atkins committed 18 errors as a rookie, in the middle of the pack among NL third basemen, and enters the season with a 25-game errorless streak.
“That was one of the main questions: Could Garrett handle third base in the big leagues?” infield coach Mike Gallego said. “I know there was a lot of doubt, not only in the organization’s mind, but there also was some doubt in his mind, because he had not been very successful defensively throughout the minor leagues.
“We always knew he could hit, and we knew there wasn’t going to be a question about him offensively. So the main thing was to get him to believe in himself.”
Atkins, who fields a heavy dose of groundballs on a daily basis, views his defensive skills as glove work in progress.
“I think they want me to focus on making the routine play,” he said. “I definitely did that the last two months of the year. I struggled a little bit early on, so I’m just trying to build on the last two months.”
Gallego predicts once Atkins begins feeling as comfortable in the field as he is at the plate, he will have a breakout season.
“When something becomes a natural part of your game, you are in a more relaxed mode,” Gallego said. “When Garrett gets comfortable, who knows what he’s going to do.”
Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-820-5459 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
