But I expect him to continue his growing pains this season. Obviously, there is plenty of buzz surrounding Cirillo because he's in Colorado, and neighbors Todd Helton and Larry Walker in the batting order. Cirillo is not much of a power hitter, but I expect him to land just shy of 25 home runs. Mike Lowell doesn't benefit from the Colorado air, but should move up from last year's No. 7 spot in the Marlins batting order. With a full season in front of him and his battle with cancer another year behind him, he should post 20-plus home runs and boost an average that was .253 last season.
Control is the biggest hurdle for major leaguers.
Another big factor for me is where they pitch. Shea Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, Pro Player Stadium, Safeco Field are nice pitchers parks, to name a few. These are some of the factors, not to mention age and injury history. With Corey Koskie at third, Ron Coomer gets thrown into the mix with Doug Mientkiewicz and Ortiz. I think that Ortiz will play most of his time at DH this season because Coomer and Mientkiewicz are better defensive options at first base.