He was really extending. Rijo, the 1990 World Series MVP, has been throwing 100 pitches every five days in the Dominican Republic and he is reaching 88-90 mph with his fastball, Bowden said. When outfielder Deion Sanders singled and homered on the first two pitches he saw after more than three seasons away from the major leagues, there was concern about how much he really had changed from the impatient non-bunter of the past. When he bunted on his next two plate appearances, there was almost an audible sigh of relief. The lefthanded batter still doesn't take a lot of pitches, which makes him a poor leadoff candidate, and while he showed by laying down bunts that he knows what he can do with his speed, he hasn't mastered the tactic, and either bunts foul or into outs.
Sanders still is below average defensively.
His speed allows him to overcome poor jumps, but he is still a sub-par thrower, primarily because he hasn't broken the habit of pushing the ball instead of throwing it. He also hits cutoff men inconsistently, though he did so Saturday with a throw that led to Ryan Klesko being trapped at third base. He was trying to get better at fielding throws at the plate. Boone had bench coach Tim Foli hit grounders of varying hops to LaRue at third base. The idea was for LaRue to get used to getting his body in position to field balls first before doing anything else.