McGehee proving to be a hit at Marlins Park

MIAMI -- Marlins Park may frustrate some hitters because of its spacious dimensions, but Casey McGehee is taking advantage of the big building by simply striving to hit the ball hard.

The 31-year-old third baseman has been putting up impressive numbers at home. He entered Sunday's series finale against the Mariners hitting .341 (15-for-44) with four doubles, one triple and 14 RBIs. In the six road games this year, McGehee is hitting .217 (5-for-23) with one double and one RBI.

Overall, he came into Sunday batting .299 with five doubles, one triple and 15 RBIs. He still seeks his first home run of the season.

Rather than look to drive the ball out of the park, McGehee is trying to utilize the open space by putting the ball in play somewhere.

"There are a lot of places to get hits," McGehee said. "Hitting the ball out of the ballpark is a little more of a challenge here than at some other places. But I feel like I'm strong enough that if I do catch one good, I will be able to drive it out of the ballpark. But I think if you go up with that as your sole goal it's going to make for a long year."

Already, the park is showing that the infield plays fast, and there is plenty of space in the outfield.

"If you hit the ball hard, you've got a chance," the third baseman said.

McGehee also is developing a comfort zone just being back in the big leagues. A year ago, he played in Japan, and now he is enjoying the opportunity of being in the lineup every day.

In Japan, McGehee established a better approach, and he learned patience seeing so many forkballs and off-speed pitches.

"I think more than anything it was just going and playing every day, and getting back into the mode of being able to have an approach at the plate, and not be so result-oriented all the time, which is easier said than done," McGehee said. "It's easier when you're playing every day. Not that you don't want to get a hit every time you go up there, but it's a little bit easier to stick with a plan and work an approach, and you know over the long haul that it's going to play."