Jayson Werth: 2011 ‘doesn’t define me as a baseball player’

As blue comic manager turned turncoat, Lee Elia Kazan, once noted…“You have no ####### idea how ####### fragile a ballplayer’s ####### self-worth is!”

Werth’s second season started today, when he arrived early at the Nationals’ spring training complex for informal workouts and batting practice with a handful of teammates. “I’m home now,” Werth said. He is intent on proving last season was a fluke, confident his legacy in Washington will be shaped more by what comes next than what happened in 2011.

“It doesn’t define me as an individual,” Werth said. “It doesn’t define me as a baseball player. It doesn’t define my career. It was one year and 600 at-bats. I’m over it and looking forward to this year. I worked hard all winter. I’m healthy.”

...“The bottom line was, my swing was never where it needed to be,” Werth said. “It started bad, and it didn’t get any better. You have those seasons. I’ve been playing baseball since I was 4 years old. I’ve had really good seasons, I’ve had really bad seasons, I’ve had average seasons. Last year was just a bad season. Whatever. I’m over it. I’m ready to play ball, play 162.

“I don’t think it’s a fair assessment to judge my career or my time in Washington on last year. We’ve got lots of time to make good. We’re going in the right direction.”

...“There was times where I was doing whatever the team needed,” Werth said. “It wasn’t necessarily the best thing for me, but it was probably the best thing for the club at the time. Whatever, I don’t really feel that had anything to do with the numbers. My swing started bad and stayed bad.”