Bill Mitchell's Minor League Ramblings

Minor League Ramblings

For the week of :
April 28, 2003

Minor League Ramblings is produced by Bill Mitchell for Minor League Watch.

Diamondbacks grooming yet another natural hitter
May 4, 2003

The Arizona Diamondbacks have been through this before. They draft a fair-haired, left-handed hitter in the annual free agent draft. Because the player is coming out of a lesser known college program, he's not chosen in the first few rounds. The natural hitter immediately posts one of the highest batting averages in the minor leagues, and reaches Class AA by his second full season. Instead of struggling at each level, the player hits even better with each promotion. Despite the consistently astronomical batting averages, questions abound as to whether the player will hit with enough power to man a corner infield position in the big leagues.

Chad Tracy

We're talking about current Arizona first baseman Lyle Overbay, right?

Wrong.

While Overbay followed the above script to the letter en route to his starting job as the Diamondbacks' first baseman, this tale is about Tucson third baseman Chad Tracy, whose batting exploits are equaling the lofty numbers put up by Overbay during the latter's four-year minor league career.

The North Carolina native, who will turn 23 in a few weeks, was taken by the Diamondbacks in the seventh round of the 2001 free agent draft out of East Carolina University. After a 10-game stint with short-season Yakima of the Northwest League, Tracy was immediately challenged by the Arizona organization when they sent him to Low A South Bend of the Midwest League. The advanced competition didn't faze him at all, as the 21-year-old hit .340 over the last 54 games of the season.

Tracy's abilities were again put to the test when the Diamondbacks skipped him a level, assigning him to Class AA El Paso for the 2002 campaign. Still just 21 when the season started, Tracy began collecting hits in droves and kept his average above the .400 mark for the first half of the season. He didn't slow down until a late-season shoulder injury brought his league-leading average down to .344. Tracy also led the league with 39 doubles and was named the Texas League Player of the Year.

While he didn't get an invitation to the major league camp for spring training, Tracy had the opportunity to get in several games for the Diamondbacks.

"I came over a couple of times," Tracy remarked about the spring season. "It's good to be able to talk to the guys in the big leagues. You just try to watch and learn from what they do."

He apparently learned his lessons well. Despite being one of the younger players on the Class AAA Tucson Sidewinders, Tracy is among the team's leading hitters. After 28 games, the Sidewinders' regular third baseman is hitting a solid .356/.411/.500, with three homeruns and an impressive 10-8 BB/K ratio.

Tracy is the type of intelligent hitter that will likely remain consistent and avoid prolonged slumps.

"This kid has a great swing ... very compact," said Tucson manager Al Pedrique, about Tracy offensive skills. "He's a smart hitter; he reminds me of Overbay when it comes to making the adjustments and doing the little things to get the swing better."

Tracy doesn't mind the comparisons to Overbay. "Lyle's one of those guys that stays consistent," Tracy remarked, "and that's what I'm striving for."

Like Overbay before him, Tracy is often faced with the question as to whether he will hit with enough power to be a major league regular at a corner infield position. Coming into the 2003 season Tracy had hit only 12 homeruns in 765 minor league at bats.

"I think eventually they (homeruns) will come," Tracy answered, but then qualifying his response, "Homeruns aren't the only thing to hitting. It would be nice to be a 30 to 35 a year man, but I'm going to take what the pitcher gives me. I could hit .250 and increase my power numbers, but I hate to strike out and I try to put the bat on the ball at any cost. With two strikes I'm choking up and I'm spreading out. I'm going to try to put the ball in play."

Chad Tracy

Pedrique agreed with Tracy's approach to hitting. "I don't think he's going to be a guy to hit 25 to 30 homeruns," said the Tucson manager. "I see him hitting 15 to 20 homeruns. With his swing, he should be able to get 80 to 85 RBIs because he's a gap to gap hitter. He uses the whole field. When you have that tool, you have a chance to hit .300, maybe 15 homeruns and 75 RBIs ... there's nothing wrong with that."

Tracy believes that his biggest area for improvement is in just gaining the confidence that comes from experience. "When you go in slumps," said Tracy, "your confidence seems to go away. The good players keep their confidence even in the bad times when they struggle. It's keeping that even keel."

The converted first baseman (Tracy didn't start playing the hot corner until his last year of college ball) is also working very hard on his defense. "I've learned more in the past two years than I learned throughout my whole life, even in college," Tracy said about his improvement in the field.

Tracy credits former major league player and minor league instructor Chip Hale as the biggest help to him since joining the organization. "We worked a lot together," Tracy emphasized. "He's been great. He takes me out there on my own a lot. He's positive all of the time, but he's not going to sugar coat things. If there's something wrong, he's going to tell you, 'You're not doing it right ...You need to step it up.' He's been probably the most influential person as far as defense goes."

Pedrique was also enthusiastic about Tracy's defensive work. "Each night, he's getting better," the Tucson manager said. "He needs to do a lot of work around third base. We need to work on his agility drills so he can improve his footwork. The kid has some good hands, and he has enough of a good arm to play third base."

"The one thing is that he's a hard worker," continued Pedrique. "He comes to the park every day trying to learn more and get better ... that's a good thing to see in these young players."

With veteran Diamondbacks third baseman Matt Williams in the last year of his contract, there may be a position open for Tracy next season ... if he's ready after his season of AAA ball.

"I hope they (Arizona organization) feel that I'm ready," replied Tracy when asked if believes he'll be a major league caliber ballplayer by 2004. "I've got some adjustments and improvements to make on my game. Hopefully, after this season, I'll at least be able to compete for the job."

But enough talk about baseball. Tracy hails from North Carolina, a state which embraces college basketball and barbeque with equal passion and fervor. The Charlotte native was quick to answer when asked his opinions on the two topics.

"College basketball? It's Chapel Hill," was his unequivocal answer to the question of his favorite basketball team, referring to the Tar Heels of the University of North Carolina.

As far as barbeque is concerned, Tracy also shows his allegiance to his home state. "I haven't tasted any barbeque that tastes like North Carolina barbeque," he said. Tracy was as eager to name his favorite restaurant as he was his preferred college basketball team.

"Bee's Bar B Que in Greenville" he stated. "There's no comparison."

--- Bill Mitchell