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Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Blanco (finally) knocking at door
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kissimmee, Fla. — Every once in a while comes a player like Gregor Blanco, who has plenty of physical tools, puts up good numbers annually in competitive Latin American winter leagues, but has something that’s keeping him stuck in the minor league system, something vague or unspoken by team officials.
Only when the player is shipped out, or brought up to the majors, do we find out more about what it was that had kept him down.
Well, now we know what’s kept Blanco down, despite his 181 stolen bases in the past six minor league seasons, his league-high triples totals in two of those seasons, his .280 or higher average at each of three stops the past two seasons.
He’s knocking at the door now, closer than ever to the majors, with a shot at making the team as the fourth outfielder, and manager Bobby Cox had revealing comments twice in recent days about Blanco, who’s toiled for the past three seasons in the high minors (Double-A, Triple-A) without a sniff of the bigs.
(Before we go further, I’ve gotta say I’ve covered spring training for 14 years, and every time I’ve ever written or said Kissimmee, I think of the song Kizza Me by the seminal alt-rock band Big Star, available on their Third/Sister Lovers album, or on Alex Chilton’s 19 Years: A Collection. Get it. You’ll be glad you did.)
OK, back to Blanco.
He’s a natural center fielder, but Cox stuck him in right field a couple of times recently and Blanco’s looked good out there, including one diving catch that was as good as any made by a Braves outfielder this spring (they just needed to confirm he could play the corners if he’s gonna be a fourth outfielder, different angles on balls coming off the bat and all that).
He’s hitting .333 (7-for-21) with a double and five RBIs, and looks so much better than he did last spring, both in batting practice and the games.
Twice in a week, Cox peeled back a layer and revealed his thinking on Blanco, going so far as to say he used to genuinely dislike watching the undisciplined kid play. The second time Cox talked about him, I made sure to write it down.
This was Sunday at Jupiter, when I asked about Blanco:
“He’s improved a lot from the first year,” Cox said. “He used to swing from the end of the bat and strike out way too much for a speed guy.
“Now he’s choked up. He used to swing from his ass. He’s leveled that baby [his swing] out so good. I like him.”
And this, “For me, he’s really grown up.”
In case you missed it, that’s the sound of a 24-year-old Venezuelan putting himself in job contention.
Now that’s a bad spring: The more you’re around baseball, the more you know not to put much value in spring-training stats. Because unless a player is fighting for a spot, the stats mean next to nothing and are forgotten two weeks from now. As Cox said: “People have to understand it’s getting in shape.”
That said, let’s analyze a few stats, shall we?
The stench from Arizona is coming from Rickie Weeks’ bat. The Brewers second baseman is having a bad spring. Oh, is he having a bad spring. Only Eliot Spitzer has had a worse spring than Weeks, who was hitting .125 with one homer, two RBI, three walks and — are you ready for this? — 20 strikeouts in 40 at-bats.
Weeks, who has 310 strikeouts in 1,140 career at-bats that actually count, leads the NL in strikeouts this spring. Second on the list was Milwaukee’s Corey Hart, with 16. Forget Harvey’s Wallbangers. How ‘bout Ned’s Whiffmeisters?
And speaking of former Braves (Ned Yost, ex-Braves 3B coach), everyone asks — OK, maybe one person ever 3-4 days asks, including Cox several times — how is Andruw Jones doing out West?
A check of the stats shows the new Dodgers CF was batting .212 (7-for-33) with one double, two homers, six RBIs, nine walks, nine strikeouts and a .636 OPS. He was eighth on team with 14 total bases.
Which brings me to a rare fantasy tip I’m going to offer you folks, just based on my own observations a few weeks ago at Dodgertown, buttressed by his performance since then: Buy Andre Ethier.
I know, I know, he might not have a starting job. For now. But he will eventually. Or at least he should (nice contract they gave Juan Pierre, eh?)
I watched him hit a couple of monster shots during BP at Dodgertown, including one impossible drive that cleared the entire right-field grass berm — with the wind blowing in.
This spring Ethier is hitting .340 with a league-high five homers, 13 RBIs, 34 total bases and 1.139 OPS. I smell breakout season, folks (it’s such a strong scent, I can even smell it over the odor coming off Weeks’ performance).
The young (and cast off) will lead them…. Speaking of stats (good thing we’re not putting much stock in them, huh?), I couldn’t help but notice that no Brave was among the 24 players from 10 NL teams who had three or more homers before Tuesday.
Yunel Escobar, Scott Thorman and Javy Lopez led the Braves with two apiece.
On a brighter note, Escobar was tied for third in the NL with 12 RBI, one off th lead, and Joltin’ Joe Borchard was tied for the NL lead with seven doubles and tied for ninth with 11 RBI (he also has a triple in his 10 hits).
Martin Prado, pushing hard for the primary utility infield job with Omar Infante out, was tied for second with six doubles and fifth with 52 at-bats.
Borchard, a non-roster invitee, has been so good this spring (10-for-31, .323, .977 OPS) that he’s got the Braves giving serious consideration to keeping him. It’s not easy to do, though, because he’s not really good enough at first base to keep as the primary backup at that position, and he doesn’t play CF and is only a serviceable-at-best corner OF.
So the only way to make it work might be as a fifth outfielder/pinch-hitter. Stay tuned. Like I said, he’s raked all spring, and even if we don’t see him in April I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him later this season.
Go to sleep, little … where’d she go? Matt Diaz crashed into the left-field wall making a spectacular catch a week or so ago at Wide World of Dark Star, and afterward needled Mark Kotsay for shouting “Plenty of room!” as Diaz drifted back to make the catch.
Cox gave Diaz the next game off to rest, so he got to spend a lot of quality time with his newborn daughter at the Diaz home in nearby Lakeland. Daddy took something for his stiff neck/back and sat down in his recliner with baby.
“The problem is, when you take a muscle relaxer and you’re holding your baby daughter,” he said, “and the next thing you know, she’s slipped down into your armpit.”
Good luck, Fredi: After enduring an injury-plagued first season managing the Marlins, Fredi Gonzalez is back for more. Things don’t appear to be getting any easier anytime soon for the former Braves 3B coach.
The Marlins face Johan Santana on opening day, and you know who Fredi and the Fish are expected to run out there to oppose him? Mark Hendrickson. Yes, a 33-year-old with a 43-55 career record and 5.01 ERA.
He’s their most experienced started and third-highest-paid player ($1.5 mill) after closer Kevin Gregg and outfielder Luis Gonzalez (did I mention Fredi is manager of The Other Half?)
Hendrickson’s apparently earned the opening day start (nothing official yet) with a 1.69 ERA in 16 innings this spring.
Among Florida’s other starters, Ricky Nolasco has a 7.84 ERA, Scott Olsen’s had shoulder tendinitis, Chris Volstad has seven starts above A-ball, and Andrew Miller has been all over the place with his control, or lack thereof.
When Bobby Cox was talking to us after Monday’s game against the Cardinals at Jupiter, someone asked about Fredi — the Marlins share a complex with the Cards - and whether he faced a difficult task as Florida manager.
“Probably the hardest job in baseball,” Cox said. “Lot of young kids on the team.”
This quote that Hendrickson gave ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says it all:
“It would be an honor for whoever gets the nod,” Hendrickson said of opening day. “It’s something not many guys get the opportunity to do. But I wouldn’t consider any of us legitimate No. 1s — at least in my book, when I look at who I’ve played with before.”
Kudos for honesty.
Hendrickson was 4-8 with a 5.21 ERA while starting and relieving for Los Dodgers last season, and 6-15 with a 4.21 ERA for Tampa Bay and the Dodgers in ’06. His only winning season was 2005, when he was 11-8 for the the team formerly known as Devil Rays.
”KISS ME ON THE BUS by Paul Westerberg (The Replacements)
On the bus, that’s where we’re ridin’
On the bus, O.K., don’t say hi, then
Your tongue, your transfer,
your hand, your answer
On the bus, everyone’s lookin’ forward
On the bus, I am lookin’ forward
And everything ain’t OK.
I might die before Monday
They’re all watchin’ us
Kiss me on the bus
Kiss me on the bus
If you knew how I felt now
You wouldn’t act so adult now
Hurry, hurry, here comes my stop
On the bus, watch our reflection
On the bus, I can’t stand no rejection
C’mon, let’s make a scene
Oh, baby, don’t be so mean
They’re all watchin’ us
Kiss me on the bus
Kiss me on the bus
If you knew how I felt now
You wouldn’t act so adult now
Hurry, hurry, here comes my stop
If you knew how I felt now
You wouldn’t act so adult now
They’re all watchin’ us
Kiss me on the bus
Kiss me on the bus
Kiss me on the bus
Kiss me on the bus
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