Roberts, D-Backs won’t change outlook to season
Feb 10, 2012, 8:47 PM | Updated: 9:09 pm
Ryan Roberts quickly became a fan favorite last season with his clutch hitting, fiery attitude, and “Tatman” nickname.
With no new acquisitions at third base, Roberts currently has a secure job at that position, but that hasn’t satisfied him.
“I never want to feel established, and I never want to feel like I’ve reached my goals because there’s so much to accomplish in the game of baseball that I can’t get satisfied with anything even if you go out and hit 40 homers,” Roberts told Arizona Sports 620’s Burns and Gambo. “You can always hit more, obviously. There’s always room to improve and the mindset has to be that way, and the goals have to always to be higher than the year before.”
Roberts had a batting average of only .249, but he hit 19 home runs in 2011, two of which were crucial grand slams later in the season.
Heading into spring training, Roberts said he wants to focus on improving every aspect of the game such as batting average, home runs, stolen bases, RBIs and defense.
One thing that he doesn’t have to worry about is adjusting to an entirely new team. The organization brought back a majority of the squad that won the NL West last season, while also adding some new players who Roberts thinks will not have a difficult time fitting in because they all had to do that last year.
“The main thing that really got me excited was that we have our whole team back pretty much,” Roberts said. “We had a great team last year, we had great team chemistry, we all fed off each other, we all did the right way of playing the game and it’s tough to find 25 guys to do that.”
But, with the worst-to-first surprise season they had, the D-backs are now being carefully watched by analysts and other teams to see what they will bring to a new year.
“Our mindset was established last year, and there’s no need to change. It doesn’t matter whether or not we won the division or win the World Series,” Roberts said. “Our mindset is going to try to stay the same and just polish on what we’re doing as a unit because we know it works.”
