ESPN Buster Olney Blog

Carl Crawford seems to be on the move constantly in the clubhouse, changing shoes and T-shirts between various elements of his physical training. He is a worker, and early in spring training, he felt the work he had done in the offseason and an adjustment he had made in his regimen would pay off in a big way. "I'm going to have my legs this year," he said the first week of March.

In previous winters, Crawford had worked out indoors at the Athletes' Performance Institute, and he wondered whether the leg training he did on the artificial surface rendered something of a beating on his legs. So this past fall, he decided to do his leg work outside and on a more forgiving surface, grass.

Now, it's not unreasonable to wonder whether Crawford will approach 100 stolen bases this season. He swiped six against the Red Sox on Sunday, and in none of his attempts was he close to being thrown out, as he took advantage of the slow deliveries of Brad Penny and Manny Delcarmen. Crawford is 17-for-17 in stolen bases this season and has only recently started to swing the bat the way he is capable of swinging.

It was a good weekend all the way around for Crawford and the Rays, who took three of four from the Red Sox, as Marc Topkin writes. Crawford is still perfect in stealing bases this season, as Joe Smith writes. The Rays are bringing the stolen base back to style, writes John Romano.

• There was something wrong with Tony Pena's left hand Saturday night; he just didn't know the extent of the problem immediately after feeling pain in the 10th inning. But Royals manager Trey Hillman went to Pena, when Kansas City and Minnesota were tied, and put the facts on the table. "The only options we have on the bench are me and [third-base coach] Dave Owen," Hillman said, "and I don't think you want to see that."

Pena was ready to do what he needed to do early in a season in which the Royals have been successfully pulling oars at the same rate, so he stayed in the game, fielding a couple of ground balls gingerly, swinging the bat carefully, almost with one hand. "Just protect your hand," Hillman said.

The Royals went on to win 10-7. It turned out that Pena has a broken hamate bone, and he now is on the disabled list. The game was the kind, some players and staff agreed, that Kansas City would have lost in the past. But the Royals currently lead the AL Central, and this season feels different.

Hillman, in his second year as manager, said Sunday that he made a change for this season, trying to ratchet down the intensity he places on the players. "As far as operationally, I don't think we're doing anything very different," Hillman said. "I think there's probably a lighter atmosphere, as far as feeling [that I don't] have to raise the issue of expectations. I think everybody did a good job of raising expectations and adding the expectations."

Hillman told his players at the outset of spring training that he was going to change, provided they didn't lose sight of their work obligations to the organization and the fans. In other words, he intended to loosen the reins. The players have responded. "I think everyone has that hunger that you've got to try to do something to get better, and it's refreshing to come to work every day, because you get to work at a place where everybody wants the same thing. I'm getting to work with really great people," he said.

The Royals again showed why they are different this season on Sunday, coming back against the Twins, again, and walking away from Minnesota with a series victory, Bob Dutton writes.

The Royals are among the handful of teams in the majors that increased payroll for 2009, and whether or not they will add more during the season, like with a midsummer trade, might be predicated on their attendance. Kansas City typically has drawn about 1.5 million a year, and if the attendance climbs toward 2 million, that might create more leeway for general manager Dayton Moore to pursue a shortstop midseason.

• Tommy Hanson, one of baseball's best prospects, is ready for the big leagues, Atlanta general manager Frank Wren said Sunday. "He's doing what we would have hoped he would do," Wren said. "He's continuing to pitch and pitch well. With him never having pitched in Triple-A, and we wanted him to pitch there and get that experience …. He commands all of his pitches, and they're all above average."

The flip side, however, Wren said, "is that we don't have a need here."

He's right. The Braves rank third in the majors in ERA for their rotation, at 3.59. I wrote here in January that I thought the Braves had made a mistake by failing to pursue Jake Peavy to the end of the earth, but so far, Atlanta's entire rotation has been effective and has been exceptional at keeping the ball in the park. Jair Jurrjens has a 1.89 ERA and has allowed one homer in 33.1 innings, and Derek Lowe has surrendered one homer in 35.2 innings while carrying a 3.03 ERA. Javier Vazquez has surrendered just one homer in 32 innings and has posted a 3.38 ERA.

Kenshin Kawakami has been knocked around in his past couple of outings and is fighting off some shoulder weakness, but Wren likes the way he is throwing, and Jo-Jo Reyes held the Cardinals to one run over seven innings in his last start, on April 28.

Inevitably, Wren said, Hanson will be needed in the majors. Just not quite yet. For now, "he's just biding his time and trying to perfect some things," Wren said.

Wren asked Braves manager Bobby Cox the other day how he felt, and Cox said, "We're fine. Let's watch our club."

The more pressing need, of course, is the return of Brian McCann, who is trying to find a solution for the trouble he is having with the vision in his left eye and for more production out of left field; the Braves had been counting on Garret Anderson to provide offensive help, but he's hurt.

McCann is eligible to come off the disabled list Friday, and the hope is that he will adapt to the glasses he is trying this week. There is a possibility that at some point, he will have more laser eye surgery. "It is an option," Wren said. "It's still a possibility during the season. But I think they're looking at it as a matter of last resort, because he's had it before and they'd rather not do both this close together …. It might be that the patient's eyes are still in a change mode. His eyes might still be adjusting to the first surgery."

Regarding veteran Tom Glavine, who is trying to come back after having a setback in April, Wren said, "He is still a bit of an unknown."

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