Minor League report: Rays prospect Pat Leonard showing versatility
Patrick Leonard has played third base, left field, center field, right field and first base in the Tampa Bay Rays minor league system.
The organization is trying to find Leonard a home. That is not bad news. That is good news.
Leonard, 24, is the Durham (N.C.) Bulls everyday third baseman, but he isn’t going to be the Rays everyday third baseman. The Rays have star third baseman Evan Longoria signed for at least five more seasons. There is no path to the big leagues for Leonard, at third base at least.
So the Rays are going to find out what Leonard looks like defensively around the diamond. They must like what he looks like at the plate.
In the season opener at the Gwinnett (Ga.) Braves, Leonard had four hits, including a home run. In the second game, he had three hits, but his hardest-hit ball was a drive to the right-center-field gap that was hauled in at the 400-foot wall. The Braves center fielder was deep and in a prevent defense in the ninth inning and probably would not have caught it otherwise.
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Leonard went 8-for-19 (.421) with a home run in the season-opening International League series against the Braves. Durham won three of the four games.
“When a team is moving you around, it’s, ‘Hey, maybe these guys have a plan for me and want me to succeed,’” Leonard said. “Our manager (Jared Sandberg) says it all the time: ‘When you get called up, you are not going to be hitting 4-hole, playing third base, that position is locked up. You are going to be hitting ninth and maybe playing left field.’”
Leonard’s situation brings up a basic tenet of minor league ball: You are not playing for one team, you are playing for 30.
“If you perform, someone is going to want you,” Leonard said. “You can’t worry about what’s going on at the major league level.
“Just look at Ben Zobrist. He can start in left, right, second, short, first. He can play anywhere.”
Scouts from 29 other clubs will scour Class AAA looking for a surplus, so there will be eyes on Leonard, especially if he continues to hit with two strikes.
Atlanta pitching prospect Aaron Blair had two strikes on Leonard and threw a fastball down and away, and Leonard rapped it into right field for a single. Leonard had two strikes when he homered in the season opener. He is an aggressive early-count hitter and susceptible to first- and second-pitch off-speed, but he has a plan.
“I worked on my two-strike approach a lot this spring training,” Leonard said. “When I get to two strikes, I spread out a little bit and I don’t take my foot off the ground. I just load my hands and just try and put the ball in play.”
It brings to mind another adage scouts will use: Shake a tree full of 10 prospects, and nine gloves will fall out and one bat.
The bat is more rare and precious. If Leonard hits, he will find a home.
“When a team is moving you around, it’s, ‘Hey, maybe these guys have a plan for me and want me to succeed.’”
NOTEBOOK
We see you, Lucas Sims.
Once upon a time, Sims was the top pitching prospect in the Atlanta Braves organization. He was selected in the first round of the 2012 draft. But after the purge of the baseball front office that drafted him, Sims’ status fell like a rock in the organization. The Braves have stockpiled arms, and not much has been mentioned of Sims for the rotation of the future.
He finally got the ball Sunday for the Gwinnett (Ga.) Braves, the fourth starter behind Aaron Blair, Sean Newcomb and Matt Wisler.
Sims had the best outing of the group with five innings pitched, allowing one run and one hit as Gwinnett won for the first time this season.
There’s nothing like a pitcher with a purpose.
Showing the heat: On the subject of things to prove, the Boston Red Sox traded pitching prospect Michael Kopech, a first-round pick in 2014, to the Chicago White Sox in the deal for Chris Sale.
Kopech sits with a mid-90s fastball — he has even touched 100 mph — and showed off the gas in his debut for Birmingham (Ala.) in a Southern League game Saturday. In 41/3 innings, Kopech struck out 10.
There are questions about Kopech, given his 50-game suspension for a banned substance and a fight with a teammate that broke his hand. But he can throw it, no doubt.
Still, Kopech didn’t get the best of everybody. In fact, the Jackson (Tenn.) Generals’ Kevin Cron (6-5, 245 pounds) shoved Kopech right off stage with a three-homer night. Cron hit one against Kopech in the second inning but the Barons won 8-7 in 10 innings.
Power surge: O’Koyea Dickson, 27, who was drafted in the 12th round in 2011, had 10 hits (three homers) in 14 at bats (.714) for the Oklahoma City Dodgers in his first three games of the season. Dickson is a 220-pound outfielder and first baseman. His home run in the fifth inning Sunday landed in the back of the bullpen in left-center field.
Tebow time: And finally ... Tim Tebow. Some people might be perturbed that the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow is in minor league baseball, but the pitchers will let us know when Tebow is merely a circus act to sell tickets or legit.
So far, he gets to come back next week. Tebow hit two home runs for the low-A Columbia (S.C) Fireflies in the season-opening series. Sunday’s homer was a three-run shot.
Tebow is 3-for-13 with five strikeouts. He is hitting seventh and playing left field.