JUPITER, Fla. -- Aim for the title is the advice Lenny Harris repeatedly gives Juan Pierre.

 

No, Harris isn't pushing Pierre to regain the stolen base crown he won in 2003, but didn't recapture last year. Challenging for the Lou Brock Award, given to the league's top base stealer, is a given for Pierre.

 

Since last November, Harris has drilled into Pierre that he should shoot for another title -- the batting title.

 

The modest Pierre isn't making any grand claims.

 

"He said that," noted Pierre of Harris' expectations.

 

But Harris isn't alone in that thinking. Marlins manager Jack McKeon confirms Pierre has what it takes to win a batting title.

 

"No question," McKeon said. "He's a little bit like Tony Gwynn. The thing Pierre has got going for him is speed. He can run. And he's a very good bunter."

 

On Tuesday, the first day of full-squad workouts, Harris reminded Pierre that he shouldn't settle for .300.

 

"I want him to think big -- not .300, but .350," Harris said. "That's what we worked on this offseason."

 

A year ago, Pierre batted .326, and his 221 hits were not only a Marlins record, but they also were second most in all of baseball, behind Ichiro Suzuki's Major League record of 262.

 

Suzuki hit a league-best .372 and had an on-base percentage of .414, walking 49 times.

 

To reach the elite average level, Pierre recognizes he has to bump up his walks. In 2004, he drew 45 and had a team-leading on-base percentage of .374.

 

"It would help, or you'd have to get 250 hits," Pierre said of boosting his base on balls totals. "It's one or the other. If I walk 60 times, it would help out."

 

Challenging for the hitting crown is a different mindset for Pierre, who already is working hard to increase his percentage of successful steals.

 

While he swiped 45 bases, he was caught a disappointing 24 times. When Pierre stole a league-best 65 bases in 2003, he was thrown out 20 times.

 

"One thing I feel I could have improved on, which I did late in the season, was my leads," Pierre said. "I think my leads were a little bit shorter. That's all it takes to get thrown out. I was getting bang-bang. It wasn't like I was getting thrown out by a lot. I would watch a lot of my film. My leads shortened up. That's something I'm going to try to work on in the spring, to get bigger leads."

 

McKeon expects Pierre to run as much as possible, but there may be times he's held up if the situation would call for walking Miguel Cabrera or Carlos Delgado.

 

As far as elevating his batting average, Pierre is a career .312 hitter. His .326 average of a year ago is second best in Marlins history, behind Luis Castillo's .334 in 2000.

 

"I'm trying to hit as high as I can," Pierre said. "Of course somebody would say they would like to win the batting title. That was our goal, in the offseason in the cage. We were thinking, 'We're not hitting .300, we're thinking higher than that.' That was our focus in the cage to remain focused throughout the workout."

 

Focused on raising Pierre's average, he and Harris trained together at Dolphins Stadium, often three times a week since November.

 

"The No. 1 priority, I thought, was walks," said Harris, who pitched to Pierre in the batting cages. "Pierre doesn't walk that much for a leadoff hitter. I'm trying to get into his head about being consistent, and do whatever it takes to be a Wade Boggs-type of hitter, a Pete Rose and Rod Carew-like guy. Those guys walked a lot. I always was telling him to stay away from those 0-for-4 games. If he goes 0-for-3 with a walk, that's big. Going 0-for-4 is hard.

 

"He got much better than he was last year. I'm really expecting big things out of him. He's been working hard."

 

A throwback player, Pierre is the prototype old-school leadoff hitter. Speed is his game, as he stole 45 bases and scored 100 runs in 2004. His 12 triples were tied for most in the National League. He finished the season riding a 12-game hitting streak, where he batted .407 over the span.

 

The humble Pierre isn't making any grand predictions.

 

"Why not a batting crown?" Harris said. "A batting crown would be great. He'd be smiling, and put his head down. I could tell he wasn't really ready for that yet. But like I said, there is nothing wrong for thinking big. Pierre can do it. Right now, I don't know if his mind is set for it. But if he sets his mind up high, I'm sure he can do it."

 

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/...5news&fext=.jsp

as sweet as that would be, I just dont see him hitting the .350+ it takes to win it in the NL

So now if JP sucks this year Lenny is to blame

As long as Helton, Pujols and Bonds are in the league, JP will be hard pressed to win the batting title.

Why is he hard-pressed to win the batting title? If he walks a few more times and is more selective about what pitches he swings at, then I think he's got a shot at batting .350-.375. A career year from Pierre can land him a batting title.

Helton cheats in Coors and Barry always walks, but JP can get 4th.

JP is 27, just entering the prime of his career. He's improved every year (other than SB) in every offensive category, and at the end of last year he EXPLODED, overshadowed only by Ichiro's hitting onslaught.

 

I think he's got a great chance to capture the title. He only has to hit about 25 points higher than last year--and it's very possible with the lineup we're fielding this year. I'm optomistic about his future successs--and call me biased--but that's what I think.

That would be awesome, there isn't anyone in the league that would deserve it more than him.

Helton doens't cheat in coors. That f***er hits homeruns everywhere.

Don't count JP out. With his work ethic anything is possible. JP did hit .340-.350 in spells last year. So with some improvement and more consistency he could do it.

as sweet as that would be, I just dont see him hitting the .350+ it takes to win it in the NL

692564[/snapback]

let's not jump to conclusion's that easily

Good to see JP aiming higher