NewsCantu hopes to get re-energized
Cholesterol-related meds take toll on Marlins' slugger
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
06/16/09 7:13 PM ET
BOSTON -- Re-energizing Jorge Cantu has been a process.By his own admission, Cantu isn't quite back to full strength. Basically, he's been wiped out physically since the end of May. The side effects to cholesterol-related medication has taken its toll on the Marlins' cleanup hitter.
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Cantu was 0-for-9 on the road trip heading into Tuesday's series opener with the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
"I'm getting there. I'm off that medication," Cantu said. "I'm on a new one. Hopefully it will be a lot better. It helps your energy.
"It started in late May. [I had] no energy. [My] vision [was] coming and going. It was weird side effects for the medication. I'm a little better, not a whole lot better. Each day it's different."
As the medication clears his system, Cantu expects to get back to where he was at the beginning of the year.
The Marlins certainly are counting on their cleanup hitter to produce. Cantu is batting .271 with nine home runs and a team-high 43 RBIs.
Cantu has complained of dizziness, which is one reason manager Fredi Gonzalez has been giving him some breathers. Cantu was out of the lineup on Sunday in Toronto, and the team was off on Monday. So he had two straight off-days. The first baseman also didn't play last Thursday at Land Shark Stadium.
"I'm hoping from the last few days of DHing, and not really playing since Saturday afternoon, hopefully his body gets energized a little bit and he gets going," Gonzalez said. "We sure need him."
Keeping him as the designated hitter is an option for the three games in Boston. However, on Friday, the Marlins return to Miami to face the Yankees.
In the National League, the DH isn't a factor.
Gonzalez said he hopes to have Cantu play first base on either Wednesday or Thursday.
"I don't want him to get too stagnant," Gonzalez said.
Cantu is ready to make a bigger contribution.
"The last two or three weeks, I've been leaving a lot of guys on base," Cantu said. "I feel very bad. I'm very focused on that. When you don't feel 100 percent, you don't feel too good. The thing is to stay positive up here [mentally]."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
