Dave Sheinin has taken over Nationals Journal for a few days and shows that Frank Robinson understands both on-base average and how to motivate players:

This was Manager Frank Robinson this morning talking about prospective leadoff man Endy Chavez, whose attempt to learn the finer points of batting leadoff is one of the primary storylines of the camp:

"I certainly like what I see so far. He's trying to bunt. He bunted safely in [Saturday's game in] Fort Lauderdale for a base hit. He tried to bunt the other day. He's working the count a little bit. He's not swinging from his heels as much. He's stealing a base or two. He is starting to do some of the things we've asked him to do."

On whether a player can learn to be selective at the plate:

"It is something that some guys are born with. But you can learn it. I think it comes from experience and having confidence in your own skills and abilities. That's why you see a lot of guys who swing early in the count all the time, because they don't feel confident that they can hit the pitches they're going to see with two strikes. You see some guys come up and take a strike, because they have confidence in their skills to hit with two strikes. It can be taught, but it's easier if you bring it to the table in the first place."

I asked Frank if it was reasonable to expect Chavez to have a .350 or better on-base average after hovering around .300 thus far in his career.

"I want him higher than that," Robinson said. "I want him around .380. I don't want it to be realistic. I don't want it to be easy for him. But I want to give him something to think about. He knows he really has to work at it to be able to achieve that. But one of the keys for him is, I want him to score over 100 runs. If he does that, he's been on base a lot."

Way to go, Frank. He wants him around .380, because .380 is where a leadoff man should be. If Robinson pushes Chavez toward .380 and gets .350, it will be an impressive improvement and a great bit of coaching.

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