Crooked Pitch

To bolster weaker hitting lineups and/or to give these guys some more chances to get at-bats, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals have announced personnel changes at second base.

The last time Cardinals outfielder Skip Schumaker took ground balls on the infield was in college. But, that could change heading into the 2009 season as he’s been working out on the infield in preparation to make a run at second base in Spring Training.  If this does happen it gives the Cards a second baseman who hit .302 with eight home runs last season. That’s quite an increase in offensive output from Adam Kennedy.

Mark Teahen took ground balls last week as he may get the nod to try out for second base this spring for the Royals. The Royals are crowded at the 1B/DH spot and Teahen moving to second give him many more opportunities to get playing time. He hit 15 home runs last season in 572 at-bats while batting .255. Alberto Callaspo is on the top of the depth chart at second base currently. Teahen’s power could be a welcomed upgrade.

Both players, if they won the second sacker job for their team, would become top-15 choices on draft day for second basemen.