Lee Mazzilli likes Johnny Damon in Center Field

During a yesnetwork interview with Michael Kay, Lee Mazzilli made it clear that Johnny Damon is an above average defensive center fielder.

Before Mazzilli left the Yankees to take on the manager's post with the Baltimore Orioles, he used to work with the outfielders. He'll return to that role this year, and plans on working with Damon on a number of facets of defensive play in the outfield.

Mazzilli feels that Damon has excellent tracking ability, speed, and good "north and south" movement. He also feels that Damon's weak throwing arm won't be a big issue, so long as Damon hustles to get to every ball, hit the cutoff man (usually Jeter) as quickly as possible, and keep the flight of the ball low.

Many baseball purists believe that the only outfielder who absolutely needs to have a strong arm is the right fielder. Makes sense, since the right fielder has the greatest distance to cover with his throwing arm to prevent players from running from first to third on single base hits.

Let's hope that Mazzilli is right and that Damon performs to his potential in center field for the next four years.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com