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Schumaker fine-tuning second-base style

After tough transition last year, 30-year-old getting comfortable

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By Steve Dorsey / Special to MLB.com

03/13/10 4:09 PM ET

JUPITER, Fla. -- Spring Training was a stressful and, at times, both mentally and physically draining experience last year for Skip Schumaker. What a difference a year makes.

Switching from the outfield to second base was not an easy transition for Schumaker, who only learned of the experiment that was the brainchild of Cardinals manager Tony La Russa a week before training camp opened last year. There were times when it appeared that the experiment was a bad idea, but Schumaker persevered and La Russa was patient.

There's still work to be done this spring, but the learning curve is not as steep as it was this time last year for Schumaker, who started 124 games at second base last season for the Redbirds and appears set to assume the starter's role at the position this season.

The journey to this point was a grind for the 30-year-old Schumaker, who before the start of Spring Training last year never had fielded a grounder at second base. Daily, he showed up at camp last year at 7:30 in the morning to work out with Cardinals coaches Jose Oquendo and Joe Pettini, fielding grounders and being inundated with all the nuances of the position. After Grapefruit League games, he'd field some more grounders. He left the stadium every day feeling sore and exhausted.

"At this point last year, I was just trying to learn how to catch the ball and throw it to first," Schumaker said Saturday before the Cardinals' game against the visiting Astros at Roger Dean Stadium.

Schumaker struggled in early Grapefruit League games last year, but his defense steadily improved because of his dedicated work ethic and the patience of La Russa.

"Tony gave me a long leash, because the first couple of weeks of Spring Training were ugly," said Schumaker, who had an RBI double and was robbed of two other hits in four at-bats in Saturday 8-5 win over the Astros. "That was huge. I give him all the credit in the world. He had to think of that possibility before having the guts to actually try someone at second base that had never played there. But he knew with the coaching staff he had -- with Oquendo and Pettini -- they'd work my butt off, and it paid off."

La Russa gave Schumaker his first start at second in the second game of the season last year and Schumaker went on to become the first Redbird to start more than 100 games at the position since Mark Grudzielanek in 2005. All the distractions of learning a foreign position did not detract from Schumaker's performance at the plate, where he finished the season with a .303 batting average and had 34 doubles, 35 RBIs and 52 walks from the leadoff position in the lineup. He performed admirably in the field, too, making nine errors in 377 chances, and had a .983 fielding percentage.

"I'm still learning the position," Schumaker said. "I'm not completely comfortable there yet, because it's so fresh to me. This year, it's getting a little more specific, fine-tuning stuff, and the more reps you get the better you are out there."

There's also the advantage of entering camp this spring with a year under his belt and knowing what's expected. Schumaker said he spent an entire month before camp opened fielding ground balls.

"I'm getting to enjoy the position more," Schumaker said. "I don't have to think about everything that's about to happen. In the beginning, I thought Jose Reyes was running every time. I was rushing everything."

Schumaker said he fully understood the position change would be a huge challenge from the start and that it would mean a lot of sacrifice and hard work.

"This is a competitive team, a successful team with a really good pitching staff, and they expect their guys to play defense behind them," Schumaker said. "There's still a lot of work to do."

Steve Dorsey is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.