Kotchman's not perfect - but he's close

JOHN MCGRATH JOHN MCGRATH; THE NEWS TRIBUNE; Staff writer

SEATTLE - On June 20, 2008, first baseman Casey Kotchman, then playing for the Angels, bumbled a ball hit off the bat of the Phillies' Jimmy Rollins. The mistake is noteworthy only because it represents the last time Kotchman was charged with an error.

Since that rare occurrence in Philadelphia, Kotchman has successfully converted 1,584 chances into outs. Is there a simple task any of us can repeat 1,584 times in a row? Like, say, chewing gum and counting at the same time? Try taking 1,584 gnaws on a piece of gum without whiffing on the gum and biting your tongue. Or losing count. Or both.

Despite the errorless streak and Kotchman’s dibs on some baseball history – his fielding percentage of .998 ranks No. 1 all-time among first basemen who’ve handled at least 3,500 chances – the amiable Floridian is a professional nomad. When he reports to spring training with the Mariners, the 26-year-old will be wearing his fourth different uniform in 19 months.

Given the emphasis Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik puts on efficient defense, it’s possible Kotchman, who broke into the big leagues with the 2004 Angels, could finally settle down after splitting last season between Atlanta and Boston.

Although his swing remains a work in progress (and a likely priority for Mariners hitting coach Alan Cockrell), Kotchman’s soft hands and predisposition to cover lots of territory on the right side of the infield figure to give him an unusual distinction: an everyday first baseman known more for his crisp fielding than the pop of his bat.

“I like trying to save the infield from errors,” Kotchman said Sunday at Safeco Field, where he participated in the team’s annual FanFest. “That’s the most fun part of playing first – to be able to pick your infielders up if the throw is wide or in the dirt. When you’re not giving up extra outs like that, the pitchers don’t have to throw as many pitches.”

Kotchman’s mastery of first base was developed, at the age of 16, by default. His preference was to play shortstop or third base, but because he’s a left-hander, the options were limited: either pitch, move to the outfield, or learn the more-difficult-than-they-look nuances of first base. His father, longtime minor-league manager and scout Tom Kotchman, helped with the transition, using a fungo bat around the infield to simulate throws in the dirt.

Another influence was J.T. Snow, a six-time Gold Glove winning first baseman with the Angels and Giants.

“I personally took videos of him taking ground balls and what he did during the game,” said Kotchman. “I tried to copy his footwork and mannerisms. He never took a pitch off. He was always in the ‘ready’ position. That’s one thing I always to do: My glove is down to the ground before the ball is in the hitting zone. When you’re playing a corner position, you always get those hot shots and you’ve got to stay low – the lower you are to the ground, the better chance you have to react to the hard stuff that’s hit your way.”

As Kotchman was learning to play first base, he noticed something that appealed to him: It’s quite busy over there. Third base might be the hot corner, but two or three innings can go by without any action. Not so at first.

“There’s a lot to it,” he said. “You can’t take a pitch off. Even if you don’t get a ground ball hit to you, you’ve got to cover first base and deal with the throw. You’ve got to try to catch the ball, make a tag, avoid a collision and all that other stuff. The other infield spots, if the ball is not hit at you, you really don’t have anything to do except maybe back people up.

“You always have some kind of responsibility as a first baseman, because other than the pitcher and the catcher, you’re getting the ball the most.”

For all the dependability required of a first baseman, many fans – and even some players – regard the position as a sort of rest stop for aging infielders. (George Brett once joked that a third baseman who gets old moves to first, and when he’s too old for that, he becomes a DH. But once the Hall of Fame third baseman found himself playing first, he changed his tune: “Whoever says this is an easy position doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Brett told author David Faulkner. “Just getting your hands and feet to work right is tough enough.”)

Seattle assistant general manager Tony Blengino, the organization’s stats guru, recently pointed out how a first baseman of Kotchman’s prowess offers a team more than conventional wisdom holds.

“Casey Kotchman does some of those things, if you could see it, you’d appreciate it a little more,” Blengino said last week at the Mariners’ pre-spring training luncheon.

Blengino acknowledged that one beneficiary of Kotchman’s defense could be second baseman Jose Lopez, whose responsibility will be eased on grounders hit to his left.

“Defense,” said Blengino, “is a team concept. If you put good defense next to good defense, all the sudden there’s a nice wall out there.”

Blengino is one of the several Mariners front-office executives who’ve followed Kotchman since he was a standout high school player in Seminole, Fla., outside of St. Petersburg. It was no surprise when the Angels selected him as the No. 13 overall pick of the 2001 amateur draft; the surprise is that Kotchman (a lifetime .269 hitter, with a mediocre on-base percentage of .337) hasn’t taken better advantage of his avoidance of strikeouts.

Kotchman is blessed with the hand-eye coordination necessary to put the bat on the ball. The challenge is to hit the ball where they ain’t. Don Wakamatsu suspects Kotchman is up to the task.

“I think Casey is on a mission,” Wakamatsu said last week. “He’s extremely excited about being here and having some life given back to his career. I think he feels he hasn’t reached his potential, nor do we. He’s a guy who understands the strike zone and is an above-average defender who’ll really help our pitching staff.”

Kotchman’s defense is well above average. His defense is 1,584 examples of perfect. Let’s appreciate this in longhand: One thousand, five hundred eighty-four.

Yikes. Just in typing that, I had to use the delete key three times.

john.mcgrath@thenewstribune.com