PEORIA, Ariz. -- It wasn't until he stretched out on a deck chair, poolside at the tropical resort of Atlantis in the Bahamas when Chase Headley finally allowed himself to exhale.

It was November, on his honeymoon, when the Padres outfielder was able to look back on a season that was filled with enough twists and turns to make the 24-year-old positively dizzy.

"I think, more than anything, last year was mentally exhausting for me," Headley said. "I think from Day 1 of Spring Training to the end of the year ... it was long year for me."

Consider everything Headley endured:

In the spring, Headley, a third baseman by trade, was converted into an outfielder so the team could keep Kevin Kouzmanoff at third base and, eventually, have room for Headley when he arrived in the Major Leagues.

The move came with a few, well, perilous and completely understandable moments as he learned the new position, a trial by fire, if you will, went well during Spring Training, where he was tested on balls to his left, right, over his head and everything in between.

Then, despite hitting .349 in Spring Training, Headley was sent to Triple-A Portland to start the season to hone his outfield skills. Disappointed, he struggled there offensively for nearly two months before hitting his stride.

On June 17, Headley was promoted to San Diego, where had experienced a lot of the same ups (.269 batting average with nine home runs) and the downs (104 strikeouts) that many other rookies experience their first time in the Major Leagues.

"By the end of the year ... I was ready to be completely away from baseball for a while," Headley said this week.

That didn't last long, even after his November wedding in Knoxville, Tenn., and honeymoon in the Bahamas, Headley got the itch to start all over again, with an eye cast toward what he feels will be a better 2009 for him and the Padres.

"I would say when December rolled around, I was ready to get back out here," Headley said. "I missed it, I missed the guys and I missed competing. I know that going forward I'm going to be a better player."

So do the Padres, who are hoping Headley's 91-game stint with the team last season gave him a jumpstart on what they think will be a promising career.

"I think Chase is going to have a solid year," Padres manager Bud Black said. "I think last year he laid a great foundation of what you can expect as far as how they're going to pitch him.

"He had a lot on his plate last year. He comes here with less on his mind and he can worry about just playing baseball."

Grady Fuson, the Padres' vice president of player development and scouting, has likely watched Headley more than any other player in the organization, dating all the way back to when Headley played at the University of Tennessee.

Fuson thinks Headley has plenty of upside and that the 331 at-bats he received after he was recalled from Portland will serve him well moving forward.

"That kind of experience is monumental," Fuson said. "You can do everything you want in the Minor Leagues, but nothing is as good as when they first get to the big leagues. Those first 300 at-bats, the first 50 games they play, bigger lights, more fans, more media and all of the attention that goes into it."

One of the primary things Headley wants to accomplish this season is cutting down on his strikeouts. Fuson said strikeouts have always been a part of his game in the Minor Leagues, but that his plate discipline and career .301 batting average and .399 on-base percentage in the Minor Leagues often overshadowed that.

"Considering the fact I struck out as many times as I did, I think that if I can cut back on those numbers a little bit, it's going to help everything," Headley said. "I mean, I'm going to strike out some. I'm going to see a lot of pitches, I'm going to walk, hit some home runs.

"I just feel if we can get that number in check, I don't see any reason to why I can't get better."