Kapler adding third dimension

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- If this were the Academy Awards, Gabe Kapler would win the Oscar for "best supporting actor" -- in support of injured right fielder Trot Nixon, and in an emerging role as a third baseman. Kapler started at the hot corner in yesterday's 7-4 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and made a couple of excellent plays.

Kapler, who has made three appearances at third base in spring training, has made such an impression on Terry Francona that the manager said, "You could put him out there and you wouldn't have to hold your breath."

Kapler likely will spend most of the first part of the season playing right field, especially at Fenway Park, where there's a large area to cover. If you had to pick the top two or three stars of spring training, Kapler would get some votes. And if you had to pick out the three guys who appear to love playing baseball the most, Kapler likely would appear on that list as well.

Kapler got the nod yesterday because the Sox wanted to give Bill Mueller one more day to heal a sore right elbow that he tweaked while swinging a leaded bat Saturday. With Terry Shumpert out with a sore hamstring, Nomar Garciaparra out, and Mark Bellhorn and Pokey Reese just returning to the lineup after missing most of last week with flu symptoms, the Sox have been limited with their infield personnel.

On his third base performance yesterday, Kapler, who went 1 for 4, said, "It was all moving pretty fast. I tried to make it instinctive and athletic and it worked out pretty good. I'm more and more comfortable every time I go out. I'm not going to say I feel as good there as I do in the outfield, but again I don't feel any type of urgency to make anything happen. That's good because you want to feel relaxed out there."

It's not easy going from the outfield to the infield.

"I feel more uncomfortable throwing the ball around the infield than anything else," Kapler said. "The shortstop is right on top of you and throwing the ball back to Derek [Lowe] or whoever is out there feels like you want to throw darts out there. This is for emergency purposes, although I don't want to speak for Tito [Francona]. If for some reason something happens to somebody, if I show I can do this maybe I can work in a couple of days of at-bats and help the team."

It seemed to be by design that Kapler would play third on a day when sinkerballer Derek Lowe pitched. The Sox wanted him to get a lot of action, and he recorded three of the 10 ground-ball outs Lowe threw. One was a nice charging play and strong throw to first.

"I'm not thinking anything," Kapler said when he's charging the ball. "I'm not thinking about keeping one foot in front of the other or keeping my shoulders anywhere, I'm just trying to pick it up and sling it over there. That's actually been a play that in practice, and in the first game I played at third, that has been the most comfortable play. The one that I think is going to be the interesting one, the one which is going to be really challenging, is the five-hopper right at me, not too hard, not too fast. That's the one that's going to be the challenge because it doesn't take the athletic ability, but rather repetition."

Kapler said the last time he played third base was at Moorpark (Calif.) Community College. Most of his major league career has been spent playing all three outfield positions and occasionally at first base.

Once the season starts, it might be difficult for a player who might be starting in right field to keep sharp as an infielder. But Kapler swears he'll keep up.

"I like doing it," he said. "I enjoy taking infield. Seeing how hard I can throw the ball across the field. It's fun for me. I don't think it's ever going to be, `Oh no, I haven't taken ground balls over there in two weeks.' I'm always going to do some work over there."

Not wanting to sound like an accomplished infielder, Kapler did say he has managed to relax himself. "After you field the first ground ball you think to yourself, `I can do this.' I like getting dirty and playing the game hard, and that doesn't change."

Kapler said positional moves are difficult because of the angles.

"If you play center field you're seeing the ball tailing to the left and to the right," he said. "If you're playing right field you're seeing the ball generally tail toward the line. Left field to me is the most difficult position because the ball kind of jumps around and does some funny stuff."

Kapler believes his training as an outfielder, based on a quick first step and explosiveness, will help him with hard-hit balls that require quick reaction.

One thing he can count on is that he feels he's coming along as a hitter.

"I do feel comfortable at the plate," said Kapler, who is 12 for 39 this spring. "The thing I'm happiest about is in the at-bats when I'm not getting hits. If I'm missing them, I'm missing them on the sweet part of the bat, either pounding them into the ground or hitting a line drive somewhere."