Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Lyle Overbay Says He's Back In The 'Swing'

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The last two seasons have been pretty lousy for Lyle Overbay. The 36-year old hit just .259 in 2012 and only .234 in 2011. The last time he hit .300 was 2006, although he did clout 20 HRs in 2010. The bottom line is, he's not the kind of player you expect to dramatically improve at his age. He claims that his swing has been rejuvenated by Arizona hitting coach (and former Red Sox star) Don Baylor. Says Overbay, "My swing had gotten long and I wasn't able to get it back. Don did a drill with me and it just clicked for me." Hmm. OK. But does anyone really believe that he'll be a credible back-up to Mike Napoli at first? Believe it or not, it's probably Overbay or Mauro Gomez. Yikes.