KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) -When Kaz Matsui was in the lineup last season, Houston Astros manager Cecil Cooper thought his team was better.
“There’s a difference, no question about it,” Cooper said of his second baseman. “He’s a guy that can really jump start us.”
The problem is keeping him in the lineup.
Matsui missed 65 games last season with various injuries and health has limited to just one 100-game-plus season since his rookie year. Asked whether he thinks he can get 130 or more games from Matsui this season, Cooper crosses all the fingers he can on both his massive hands.
“Well, yeah. You’ve got to be optimistic and I am,” he said. “You have to take care of him right.”
That care includes a new back strengthening program the Astros have implemented to help him avoid back problems that bothered him before he came to Houston.
Cooper also wants to be more in tune to not overplaying him when he is healthy and to giving him days off when he can – which he says he didn’t do enough last season.
was playing well, going 3-for-4, you don’t really want to take him out,” Cooper said. “But I’ve got to do that regardless of what’s going on. That’s on me. I’m going to monitor it myself with the medical staff and we’re going to do it regardless of what he says. We’ve just got to watch him.”
Cooper also must monitor him more closely than other players because Matsui doesn’t speak much English, and though he has a translator, sometimes things aren’t conveyed to the manager as easily.
“I’d love to have him come and be open,” Cooper said. “I’m sure he’s comfortable, but because of the language barrier it makes it difficult.”
The 33-year-old hit .293 with 26 doubles and 20 stolen bases in his first season with Houston after spending 2007 with Colorado. He is looking to make a bigger contribution this season.
“It’s frustrating that I wasn’t able to play and take the field,” Matsui said in Japanese through a translator. “I want to play more and more and I want more and I want to help the team.”
This year is off to a much better start than last, when Matsui missed almost all spring training and the first 16 games with injuries. Matsui hasn’t missed any time this spring training and said he’s feeling good.
hey can simply get on base, the Astros offense will be in good shape.
“I want to use my speed and I want to be the player that other teams don’t like to see,” Matsui said.
The Astros got Matsui to fill in last season after Craig Biggio retired. He was an immediate offensive upgrade to the aging Biggio and is working this spring training to improve his hitting.
Aside from his speed, Cooper likes that Matsui makes pitchers work.
“He works the count,” Cooper said. “Rarely is he one of those one-pitch-and-out guys. He’s just one of those kind of guys that you can tell gets us started when he plays well.”
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