Jerry_Manuel
02-24-2002, 11:14 AM
By your friend and mine Joe Cowley:
Few who witnessed it will forget what Joe Borchard did on field No. 5 in batting practice last spring.
"Parking lot, cars, the street ... balls were reaching places where no one else has reached out there," former White Sox hitting coach Von Joshua said of the hitting clinic Borchard put on that day in Tucson. "And I mean no one. It was special."
"Special" isn't a new description for the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Borchard. As a matter of fact, it isn't even the strongest adjective that's been used to describe the Sox's outfield prospect. It ranks somewhere behind "the next Mark McGwire" and "can't miss."
Good thing there isn't much Borchard concerns himself with these days. Countless players in his shoes have talked about the pressure associated with having been a first-round pick, and then crumbled under it.
Borchard is worried about cutting down on his strikeouts and figuring out the new satellite radio system he just had installed in his ride — in that order.
"You're not doing yourself justice by saying, 'This is what I could have done or should be doing,' " Borchard said Friday. "I'm not trying to avoid being a 'target.' There are people who are going to compare me to this guy or that guy, or speculate this and that. I just let others discuss it."
That they have. Ever since Borchard signed for the richest bonus in Sox history, inking a $5.3 million deal after being selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2000 draft, he has been under a microscope.
Not only because of the amount of the deal, but because he turned his back on the quarterback job at Stanford and perhaps an eventual shot at the NFL.
The largest bonus the Sox had handed out to a drafted player before was $1.75 million to pitcher Jason Stumm in 1999.
"He has the ability to be a lot of things," director of player development Bob Fontaine said of Borchard. "When you look for true power, true speed, it's difficult to find. He has both of those, and add that to the position he plays. Many haven't seen a switch-hitting power guy who plays (center field). But like anything else, time will tell all."
That's why Fontaine doesn't want to get into the fortune-telling business.
"There's no reason to compare him to anybody," Fontaine continued. "Maybe someday they'll compare players to him. I'm a firm believer in not making comparisons or timetables."
But it wasn't just coincidence that the Sox signed free-agent center fielder Kenny Lofton to only a one-year deal.
After spending the 2001 season at Double-A Birmingham, the 22-year-old Borchard seems to be on the fast track to the South Side for the 2003 season.
All he did in Birmingham last year — his first full season of playing only baseball — was hit .295 with 27 homers and 98 RBI. He hit .302 with 21 homers against right-handers and .275 with six homers against southpaws. His 98 RBI led the pitching-strong Southern League, while he finished second in homers.
The knock on Borchard stemmed from his 158 strikeouts in 515 at-bats.
"Strikeouts are going to happen when you try and hit the ball out of the park," Borchard said. "There's definitely a few things I need to work on, but there were also a lot of good pitchers in the Southern League. Sometimes you just have to say, 'He beat me.' "
But Borchard won't be beaten because of a lack of preparation. His work ethic is second to none, as he usually arrives at the park first and leaves last. And while there's an offseason for most players, that word isn't in Borchard's vocabulary.
He went straight from the minor leagues to the Arizona Fall League last year. When that ended, he was in the gym and batting cages every day. He also worked out with a speed coach three days a week for the second straight winter.
"Anytime you have a player compete at the level that he did in two sports, his makeup is going to be so important to him, both physically and mentally," Fontaine said. "You look back 15 years ago, the exposure a first-round pick got was nothing compared to now. He's handled all of it exceptionally well.
"He goes out of his way to do things that he doesn't have to do, and it comes natural for him. It's not forced."
Sox manager Jerry Manuel has already said it's unlikely Borchard will break camp on the major league roster, and Borchard seems resigned to that fact.
"I'm just trying to get better," he said. "I'm not putting an arrival date on anything. I just want to be the best that I can be, and the rest will take care of itself."
Until then, Borchard listens to what scouts say and reads what reporters write, taking it all with a grain of salt.
"If people want to make comparisons or say I'm the next Mark McGwire, I guess it's a compliment," Borchard added. "But look at it from the other side. I haven't done anything to speak of yet, so how could they compare it to a guy who's done so much?"
Fontaine is right about one thing: Time will tell all.
Few who witnessed it will forget what Joe Borchard did on field No. 5 in batting practice last spring.
"Parking lot, cars, the street ... balls were reaching places where no one else has reached out there," former White Sox hitting coach Von Joshua said of the hitting clinic Borchard put on that day in Tucson. "And I mean no one. It was special."
"Special" isn't a new description for the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Borchard. As a matter of fact, it isn't even the strongest adjective that's been used to describe the Sox's outfield prospect. It ranks somewhere behind "the next Mark McGwire" and "can't miss."
Good thing there isn't much Borchard concerns himself with these days. Countless players in his shoes have talked about the pressure associated with having been a first-round pick, and then crumbled under it.
Borchard is worried about cutting down on his strikeouts and figuring out the new satellite radio system he just had installed in his ride — in that order.
"You're not doing yourself justice by saying, 'This is what I could have done or should be doing,' " Borchard said Friday. "I'm not trying to avoid being a 'target.' There are people who are going to compare me to this guy or that guy, or speculate this and that. I just let others discuss it."
That they have. Ever since Borchard signed for the richest bonus in Sox history, inking a $5.3 million deal after being selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2000 draft, he has been under a microscope.
Not only because of the amount of the deal, but because he turned his back on the quarterback job at Stanford and perhaps an eventual shot at the NFL.
The largest bonus the Sox had handed out to a drafted player before was $1.75 million to pitcher Jason Stumm in 1999.
"He has the ability to be a lot of things," director of player development Bob Fontaine said of Borchard. "When you look for true power, true speed, it's difficult to find. He has both of those, and add that to the position he plays. Many haven't seen a switch-hitting power guy who plays (center field). But like anything else, time will tell all."
That's why Fontaine doesn't want to get into the fortune-telling business.
"There's no reason to compare him to anybody," Fontaine continued. "Maybe someday they'll compare players to him. I'm a firm believer in not making comparisons or timetables."
But it wasn't just coincidence that the Sox signed free-agent center fielder Kenny Lofton to only a one-year deal.
After spending the 2001 season at Double-A Birmingham, the 22-year-old Borchard seems to be on the fast track to the South Side for the 2003 season.
All he did in Birmingham last year — his first full season of playing only baseball — was hit .295 with 27 homers and 98 RBI. He hit .302 with 21 homers against right-handers and .275 with six homers against southpaws. His 98 RBI led the pitching-strong Southern League, while he finished second in homers.
The knock on Borchard stemmed from his 158 strikeouts in 515 at-bats.
"Strikeouts are going to happen when you try and hit the ball out of the park," Borchard said. "There's definitely a few things I need to work on, but there were also a lot of good pitchers in the Southern League. Sometimes you just have to say, 'He beat me.' "
But Borchard won't be beaten because of a lack of preparation. His work ethic is second to none, as he usually arrives at the park first and leaves last. And while there's an offseason for most players, that word isn't in Borchard's vocabulary.
He went straight from the minor leagues to the Arizona Fall League last year. When that ended, he was in the gym and batting cages every day. He also worked out with a speed coach three days a week for the second straight winter.
"Anytime you have a player compete at the level that he did in two sports, his makeup is going to be so important to him, both physically and mentally," Fontaine said. "You look back 15 years ago, the exposure a first-round pick got was nothing compared to now. He's handled all of it exceptionally well.
"He goes out of his way to do things that he doesn't have to do, and it comes natural for him. It's not forced."
Sox manager Jerry Manuel has already said it's unlikely Borchard will break camp on the major league roster, and Borchard seems resigned to that fact.
"I'm just trying to get better," he said. "I'm not putting an arrival date on anything. I just want to be the best that I can be, and the rest will take care of itself."
Until then, Borchard listens to what scouts say and reads what reporters write, taking it all with a grain of salt.
"If people want to make comparisons or say I'm the next Mark McGwire, I guess it's a compliment," Borchard added. "But look at it from the other side. I haven't done anything to speak of yet, so how could they compare it to a guy who's done so much?"
Fontaine is right about one thing: Time will tell all.