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Phil Plantier spent three stints with the Padres during his eight-year career.-(Getty Images) Can Padres hitters use PETCO Park to their advantage?New Padres hitting coach Phil Plantier plans on making a case to his players that there are positives in the ballpark's spacious dimensions.""It's going to be something that we'll talk to the players about,"" Plantier said. ""We'll address it and we'r football pictures e going to address it in a way where guys need to understand there are benefits to being in a place like that. I do believe [in] a doubles mentality rather than hitting balls with a lot of air time underneath them.""Plantier, 42, replaces Randy Ready, who was dismissed the day after the conclusion of the 2011 season.Plantier was in Arizona on Tuesday with manager Bud Black as the pair interviewed football pictures candidates for the assistant hitting coach position. That person, who will not be allowed to sit in the dugout during games, will work under Plantier, and he will have a large say in whom is hired.""It will be a collaborative effort, but Phil is really going to be the guy that makes a case for the guy that he wants, as it should be,"" Black said. ""This is going to be his guy that he's working wit football pictures h. There has to be a dynamic there of cohesiveness and message that is extremely strong and Phil's got to be comfortable with the person that is hired.""Also on Plantier's plate right now is coming up with what he said will be a plan to improve a Padres offense that finished next to last in the National League in runs scored.The evaluation process that Plantier is going through right now includes football pictures statistical and video analysis as well as looking at scouting information and receiving feedback from the coaching staff as well as players.""Bottom line is we need to get better, we need to score more runs,"" he said. ""I don't think it's a secret; everybody knows it. We're in the process of evaluating so we can put in a structure where these guys can get to their potential. We've got guys that h football pictures ave some talent, but it's a matter of creating an environment. When we put the plan together, things will get moving in the right direction, but right now we're in the process of evaluating that.""Plantier just completed his first year in the Padres organization. He began the 2011 season as the hitting coach for Class A Lake Elsinore before taking over as manager midway through the year.An 11th-ro football pictures und pick in the 1987 First-Year Player Draft by the Red Sox, Plantier finished eighth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting in 1991 when he compiled a 1.034 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) mark for the Red Sox in 174 plate appearances.While there is no question that PETCO Park limits a player's power, Plantier will remind his hitters that the most important thing is scoring at le football pictures ast one more run than their opponents.""You can't disregard it completely, but so much of this game is mental and our ability to create a culture, create an environment in which players change their focus,"" he said. ""It's not on where they're playing, but it's about competing and beating the other side and beating the guy out on the mound. Bottom line is there's two teams playing on the same fie football pictures ld and it's about beating them on that day, so I don't buy into it.""Plantier had three different stints with the Padres during his eight-year big league career, during which he finished with an OPS of .770.After retiring from baseball, Plantier earned a bachelor's degree in social science from California State University San Marcos.Plantier began his coaching career in 2008 as hitting coach for S football pictures eattle's Double-A West Tennesee affiliate, and he managed that team in 2009 before being named Minor League hitting coordinator for the Mariners in 2010.""His passion for hitting showed through and through,"" Black said, referring to when he interviewed Plantier. ""He is well versed in so many facets where he's been as a Minor League hitting coordinator, a manager, he's been a hitting coach of a c football pictures lub ... that all showed through his interview. This guy loves everything about hitting.""The Padres have cycled through five hitting coaches since PETCO Park opened in 2004, but that history does not temper Plantier's enthusiasm.""I think that's the beautiful thing about Major League Baseball. It's about production, it's about winning ballgames, and you know if you don't, you get fired,"" Plantier football pictures said. ""But I think this is a great opportunity. There's some obvious challenges that are attached to the job, but we're going to put a plan together and we're going to give these players every opportunity to get to their potential and put a system in place in which they can grow into the type of players that they need to be.""In other news, the Padres signed outfielder Franmil Reyes for $700,000 football pictures on Tuesday. The 16-year-old from Palenque, Dominican Republic, impressed the Padres with his raw power.The deal is pending a background check, drug testing and a physical." football pictures
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