The kid
David Hall
2011-07-24 00:23:14
When Abner Abreu was growing up in the baseball hotbed of San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic, baseballs weren’t always in abundance.
Abreu and his friends would play pickup games using balls they made by wrapping dozens of rubber bands around balled-up socks, hitting with whatever piece of wood they could find that most resembled a bat.
The sandlot approach didn’t lend itself to complex thoughts about things like proper hand position, weight transfer and a balanced lower half. Rather, Abreu and his friends simply saw the makeshift ball hurdling toward them and swung at it, reveling in the basic joys of the game.
Abreu, now a 21-year-old Kinston Indians outfielder with a mostly untapped supply of tools handed down from on high, is returning to his roots.
No longer consumed with swing thoughts and trying to guess pitches while at the plate, the 6-foot-3-inch, 187-pound Abreu now steps to the plate with a clear mind and a singular, familiar goal: See it and hit it.
And lately, opposing pitchers might have more luck throwing him a ball of socks.
In 20 games since June 26, Abreu has hit .359 with seven of his 11 home runs and 17 of his 33 RBIs, raising his overall batting average from .214 to .244 — no small feat this late in the season.
In fact, only one Carolina League player, Myrtle Beach’s Jared Bolden, has a higher batting average in that span.
No player in the league has more than Abreu’s 15 extra-base hits during his hot streak, which has served as evidence of his potential.
It’s also served as proof that simplifying things might finally do the trick for a player whose struggles have often confounded those charged with instructing him.
“I was too worried — more thinking than playing,” said the friendly, charismatic Abreu. “But now it’s just, ‘Play the game.’ I’m just playing the game and having fun and seeing the results.”
A new approach
Results, of course, can be fleeting in baseball. Today’s hot streak is tomorrow’s slump, forming a wedge between potential and reality.
But Abreu, who has been compared by baseball lifers to younger versions of Manny Ramirez and Vladimir Guerrero, appears to have gained serious ground in recent weeks.
His new approach has led to improved strike-zone discipline and pitch recognition, longtime shortcomings that help explain his 391 strikeouts in 362 games over his 4 1/2-year pro career.
Abreu will still chase a two-strike slider in the dirt, but he now does a better job of finding a pitch to hit before being set up for it.
Kinston hitting coach Phil Clark, a former major league infielder and catcher who helped implement Abreu’s scaled-down style, has encouraged the right-handed hitter to embrace pulling the ball.
For years, Abreu has made a conscious effort to work the right side of the field, which Clark believes has led to flaws in both his plan at the plate and his swing.
Clark was Abreu’s hitting coach in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2008, where, just 18 months after Abreu signed with the Cleveland Indians for $350,000 as a 16-year-old, Clark saw a raw, natural hitter who was at his best when he hit the ball to left.
Clark’s reunion with Abreu this year caught the coach off-guard.
“I saw the potential when he was younger,” Clark said. “That’s why I was a little thrown back to see him. It’s like he’s taken steps backwards in his performance, and I think it’s just been bottled inside. I definitely see potential in him. I mean, he’s been playing some exceptional defense here lately, and I think that’s all coming as part of him having some success, having fun now. He’s able to be himself.”
The gap between who Abreu is and who he can be, Clark believes, is narrowing.
Much of the progress can be chalked up to improved communication. Simply put, as with all players, it took Clark some time to figure out the best way to coach Abreu.
For example, Clark learned that Abreu, whom he describes as “intelligent” and “respectful,” is not the kind of player who will come to him when he’s struggling. Instead, Clark and the other staffers must observe him and pull him aside when necessary.
Clark simplified Abreu’s hitting drills, ditching a handful of others in favor of one in which he hits a ball off a tee with a narrower fungo bat, forcing him to make solid contact using a smaller surface.
The drill helps Abreu to be more fluid with his hands, and it’s translated into more hard-hit balls come game time. It’s also allowed him to better demonstrate his innate skills.
“He has quick hand action, which is something you can’t teach,” Clark said. “He has a lot of things that, really, we can’t teach. They’re just God-given talents.”
No performance, perhaps, better showcased Abreu’s tools and improvement than Friday’s 11-10 win over Wilmington. He went 4-for-4 with a triple and a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning, a line shot to left that left Grainger Stadium like a bullet leaves a gun.
Abreu’s five-RBI night, a career best, took even those who are familiar with his tools by surprise.
“It’s nice to see him have some success here and really hit the ball probably even better than he should be hitting the ball, basically,” Kinston third baseman Adam Abraham said. “I mean, 4-for-4 nights with home runs and triples and doubles and everything don’t come by too often.
“Hopefully, as he gets a little bit older, he’ll keep putting it all together. I think there really is no limit for him if he can continue to get better.”
A quiet soul
Off the field, Abreu has an easygoing manner and a wide smile that comes often. He has a gentleness and a peacefulness about him that make it easy to imagine him, should he make major league money for a long time, building schools in his home country.
“If he makes it or not, he’s going to be that kind of guy who’s going to try to help people,” said Indians catcher Roberto Perez, who shares a room with Abreu in an apartment near the ballpark.
“I cannot explain. He’s a great guy, a hard worker.”
Abreu, the son of a construction worker father and a mother who teaches psychology at his high school alma mater in the Dominican, has had his friendly nature work against him at times.
Clark said Abreu never throws post-strikeout tantrums in the dugout, as many players regularly do, choosing instead to keep his emotions as bottled as his talent has been.
In keeping with his simplified approach at the plate, Abreu doesn’t seek out information like scouting reports on pitchers. He’s quiet and introspective, keeping to himself but always ready with that smile.
As evidence of his intelligence, Abreu learned English after he signed at a rate that astonished Cleveland’s player development staff. He is now fluent enough that he makes occasional appearances on the team’s radio pregame show.
But it’s Abreu’s appearances at the plate and his newfound results that have him confident again. He has played the game since he was 5, perhaps never better than he’s playing it right now.
“Just as long as he continues to believe in himself and we as an organization continue to trust in him and keep him in the lineup, he’s capable of doing some pretty special things,” Kinston manager Aaron Holbert said. “And you’re starting to see that now.”
Abreu, who in the past has appeared dead in the water with two strikes on him, is developing a better feel for his own strengths and limitations, regardless of the count.
“I say this about all the guys, especially at this level: They’ve got to come to the point of understanding their swing,” Clark said. “What can they handle and what can they not handle? That’s what major league hitters do best.
“He’s starting to show some discipline. He’s actually coming to the plate now as a threat.”
Should he reach the major leagues, Abreu will join a long list of San Pedro de Macoris natives who have done so, including stars Pedro Guerrero, Rafael Ramirez, Sammy Sosa, Mariano Duncan and Robinson Cano.
And he’ll do it by swinging the way he started swinging.
“Like when I was a kid,” Abreu said, smiling. “See the ball, try to stay back on this leg and just get behind the ball and just hit it.”
David Hall can be reached at (252) 559-1086 or a
dhall@freedomenc.com.