Joe Maddon On Elliot Johnson

Bill Chastain has this from manager Joe Maddon on Elliot Johnson:

"He's really interesting because he's one of the better athletes in this camp, I believe," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I saw the video a couple of years ago that he was dunking a basketball easily. A gifted guy."

Johnson has a 42-inch vertical leap and could run a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash in high school. Given his leaping ability, Johnson knew his way around a basketball goal, which brought on an insatiable urge to dunk. Johnson's prowess dunking the basketball used to be documented on a YouTube video before Johnson had it removed because people refused to believe the 6-footer could execute such high-flying feats.
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"I'd like to continue to see him get better at all the positions he's playing," Maddon said. "From an offensive perspective, what we talk to him about a lot is making more contact. He does strike out a lot. [We'd like him] to be a really good super [utility] guy, almost like Ben Zobrist. [Johnson's] bat came along a lot last year and he was able to play all those positions. I think Elliot can play an equal number of positions to Ben -- similar kind of guys. Elliot's actually got some pop in his bat, a lot like Ben does, but runs a little better. I would say Ben works a better at-bat than Elliot now."