Projo Sox Blog

The Red Sox lineup has an MVP, a 54-home run hitter, and the current league home run leader sandwiched into the top half of the order. But the one guy that really scares Chipper Jones?

Kevin Youkilis.

During the World Baseball Classic, Youkilis made fans out of USA-squad teammates Chipper Jones and Brian McCann, both of the Atlanta Braves. Jones said that Youkilis, more than any other Sox hitter, scares him in big moments.

"He's probably the one guy in their lineup you don't want to see up at the plate in the crucial at-bat of the game, because you know he's very rarely going to make an out on the first pitch. He's going to work counts, he's going to foul balls off, and he's going to work the pitcher until he can get a pitch he can hit hard," Jones said.

There were some questions this year about how Youkilis would fare in the fourth spot in the lineup, as protection for the third hitter -- then David Ortiz. The lineup has shifted around all season, but Youkilis has answered all doubters at every point. His average now stands at .324, with 12 home runs and 39 RBI.

Jones and Atlanta hitting coach Terry Pendleton had been chatting about Youkilis by the batting cages earlier in the day -- remarking on his progress as a hitter, and how fearsome he had become, with his combination of power, plate discipline, and line-drive ability.

"I never really realized how good a hitter he was until I played with him in the WBC. This is a guy who throws quality at-bats up..."That was something I never really realized about him -- but he's fast perfecting the art of hitting in his own way," Jones said.

Youkilis started off the year as the best hitter in the league, flirting with .400 over the first two months of the season. But even the hottest hitters cool off eventually, and Youkilis is no exception.

Youkilis has had some problems of late. He has struck out 12 times in the last six games, with only three hits to show for it.

His issues were enough to prompt his manager to ask whether he needed a day off Thursday. Youkilis told Terry Francona no, he wanted to stay in the lineup. Youkilis rewarded Francona with a long home run in his first at-bat.

"He's just not quite seeing it as well as he was. But he will get back to that. Every hitter goes through periods like that. You just can't see the ball every day, for a whole year, like he had been. It just can't happen," Francona said.

Brian McCann, 26, came into the majors around the same time as Youkilis, 30, but was so impressed with the first baseman that he spent much of the WBC watching him to pick up plate discipline tips. Viewing Youkilis' at-bats was like watching film on how to be properly selective.

"Straight off the bat, he was just an awesome guy. He's a guy you want to pick his brain, because you watch the way he hits -- he never swings at a bad pitch. He can drive the ball to all fields," McCann said. "I just watched him through the three weeks that we were all there."

 Tags  Boston Red Sox Dan Barbarisi Kevin Youkilis Terry Francona

---