Shorebird of the week 6-22-2006

CJ Smith of the Shorebirds strides into a pitch in a June contest against Lakewood.

This week the SotW honors go to a returning veteran of the 2005 Shorebirds, first baseman CJ Smith. A product of the University of Florida, the Gator was another high pick the Orioles have placed on the Delmarva roster, chosen 4th by the Orioles in 2004. He was drafted high enough and had enough of a profile (being from a nationally known college program) to have his own blurb on the draft board (from mlb.com):

TALL & WIRY. SOME STRENGTH. HAS PUT ON 15 LBS SINCE LAST YR. BUILD SIMILAR TO FORMER ML PLAYER PAUL O’NEILL. SLIGHT SPREAD STANCE, FLEXED KNEES. BALL JUMPS OFF BAT. WILL SHOW SOME PWR. CHANCE TO HIT FOR MORE PWR IN FUTURE W/ SOME ADJUSTMENT. BETTER RUNNER UNDERWAY. PLAYABLE ARM. GOOD ATHLETE. SHOULD HIT FOR SOME PWR. STRONGER THAN LAST YR.

Interestingly enough, he was drafted as an outfielder but he has good size (6′-3″) for a first baseman as well.

What he does need to work on is his hitting. The transition from college to pro has seen the 24 year old suffer at the plate. In 83 games here last year, he had just a .227 average but was a solid RBI producer with 45 knocked in. That total was third on the team, very good considering he had 295 at bats compared to over 400 AB’s for the two players in front of him. CJ’s on a slower pace this year though, with just 10 RBI in 88 at bats and only a .205 average.

But with a name like CJ, he’s almost bound to be a fan favorite. Hopefully with our support he can find the key to improving his batting average to a more respectable number.

And as suggested, several changes were made to the roster at the All-Star break.

The Shorebirds gained three players who were sent down after stuggling with high-A Frederick: pitchers Trevor Caughey and Russ Petrick (who pitched here in 2005) and infielder Ryan Steinbach. Taking their places on the Frederick roster with a promotion were Jon Tucker, Trent Baysinger, and SAL All-Star Jim Hoey.

Meanwhile some Shorebirds who had a tough time here became IronBirds in Aberdeen. That list included pitchers Kyle Schmidt and Luis Lebron (both who were here very briefly), infielders Rob Marconi and Rene Aqueron, and former SotW catcher Brandon Snyder. All three hitters were under .200 at the time of their demotion.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.