Yankees see power of catcher prospect Montero

By ERIK BOLAND. "A couple days ago I tried to get my swing better and today, a little bit. It's not there yet but it's going to be there.". Joe Girardi stressed that the organization still sees Montero, rated one of the top hitting prospects in baseball, as a catcher. "We consider him a catcher and we want him to continue to improve and to play a lot of games back there," Girardi said.erik.boland@newsday.com.,,,,,,,February 22, 2010

Jesus Montero sent a buzz through the crowd - and some of the coaches - watching batting practice Monday in Tampa when he nearly cleared the scoreboard in left-centerfield, smashing a pitch by Triple-A hitting coach Butch Wynegar off the top of the "M" in "George M. Steinbrenner Field" on the scoreboard.

Montero, though, wasn't overly impressed.

Asked if it was one of the longer homers he could remember hitting, the 6-4, 225-pound Montero smiled.

"No," he said.

Montero said he didn't like the way he had been swinging.

"I tried to have a good practice today, I tried to hit the ball a little harder today," Montero said.