FanPost

Alou on Niekro

Did anyone catch Alou on KNBR?

He was being interviewed by Ralph and Tom and he was asked how much they were losing on defense with Niekro/Sweeney replacing Snow.  His answer was interesting.  First of all he made it seem pretty clear that he does not envision Niekro as part of a platoon with Sweeney.  He sees Sweeney as a good bat to have on the bench and who can fill in at first base if needed but I didn't get the sense that he wants him playing there a lot.  He said the Giants are going to give Niekro every chance to show that he can be their regular first baseman.  This means we'll likely see him against both righties and lefties and Alou made it clear that he thinks Niekro will learn to hit righthanders.  Here's where it gets scary:  according to Alou if Niekro doesn't pan out then the backup plan is to have Feliz play a lot of first base with Vizcaino replacing him at third.  He also repeatedly compared Niekro's progress to Feliz'; even going so far as saying that the team hopes that Niekro will become as good a hitter as Feliz.  After saying this he paused and added, "or an even better hitter."  I for one am heartened to know that the Giants feel that Niekro has a chance to be an EVEN better hitter than Feliz.

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