CJ Nitkowski

I'm doing great.

How are you guys doing?

He is, and he's really steady at what he does.

And he's kind of unassuming, and so I think maybe what you're talking about and the way that you've looked at him, maybe others have as well over the years, and now I've got to watch him for two and a half years pretty consistently, and the appreciation only goes up.

I mean, it was a couple of years ago, of course, he had the monster season offensively, but even the other years have been really consistent.

But what you come to appreciate, I think, is the defense over at first base.

It is really special.

I know that's not a position that we'll talk about special defense very often, but you see it consistently.

And again, this is not the sexiest thing that you see in a game, but the thing that really kind of always sticks out for me is how good he is on pop-ups and foul territory.

He makes them look so easy when he's going down the line, which a lot of times guys make it turn around sideways.

Yes, he's great at picking balls in the dirt.

He's great at fielding ground balls.

It seems like every one of his tosses to a pitcher who is covering is always perfect.

He does all those little things very consistently, and it's probably fair to say that he's underrated.

Absolutely.

Take those unselfish at bats, right?

That we talk about.

And you can tell the difference for guys that don't.

And when that sticks out, like you want to take your shot with nobody on base, of course you go for it.

Now he's a big, strong guy.