Tuesday, July 1, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.
The pressure is off Chin-Feng Chen.
Gone are the expectations of becoming the Dodgers' first baseman of the future. Vanished is the power-hitting reputation he earned in 2001 at Jacksonville.
Chen has spent most of this season hitting in the bottom half of the order and playing left field. He's intermittently been back at first base since Larry Barnes was called up on June 23, and played first in the 51s' wild 11-8 loss to the Fresno Grizzlies Monday.
Chen has been an outfielder dating to the 1990 Little League World Series, when his Taiwanese team won the championship. Last year's move to first base, said manager John Shoemaker, did a lot to improve Chen's marketing value, if nothing else.
"What playing first base did for him was give him a little more value, of hey, this guy can play a little first base," Shoemaker said. "Obviously, all the work he's done improving himself in the outfield -- he's playing first base out of necessity right now. He's putting the team first and himself second. We've told him not to worry about the results over at first base."
Chen doesn't speak much English -- when reporters are around, the only person who speaks less is hitting coach George Hendrick -- but he did say that for him, it's "definitely easier" to play the outfield than first base.
Nobody will doubt that Chen looks awkward at first. He has nine errors this year, and five have come at first base. Considering his lack of playing time at first, Shoemaker said a learning curve can be expected.
"Having not worked there much this year, it's going to take him a little time to get back into infield shape, and he has not complained about playing first," Shoemaker said. "Making mistakes, that's just part of baseball, and sometimes things look a little easier from the stands or the sidelines."
As Chen's fielding has improved, so has his hitting. Shoemaker and his staff are working with Chen on cutting down on his strikeouts to some success. His strikeout percentage has decreased slightly, and last year's 160 strikeouts are almost out of reach. Still, said Shoemaker, Chen can cut down on strikeouts even more.
"If Chen is going to make the major leagues, he is going to have to become more consistent with the bat," Shoemaker said.
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