ATLANTA -- When Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer returned to his suburban Kansas City home earlier this week, he felt quite confident that he had made good use of his time while spending the past few weeks with Hector Olivera in Puerto Rico.
"It was very much worth it," Seitzer said. "We made some good strides with Hector. He was really able to start focusing on the adjustments he needs to make."
When the Braves traded top prospect Jose Peraza and young lefty Alex Wood to acquire Olivera on July 30, there wasn't much reason to believe anyone would be monitoring the strides or progress the 30-year-old Cuban was making nearly four months later.