Gorecki looking for a breakout season
03/10/2006
JUPITER, Fla. -- Reid Gorecki expected 2005 to be the biggest season of his career. As it turns out, the campaign pales in importance compared to what '06 will mean.
It's hard to call a player's age-25 season a make-or-break campaign, but it's close to that for the former 13th-round draft pick. Last year, Gorecki entered Spring Training as the Cardinals' No. 11 prospect (according to Baseball America) -- a speedy outfielder with defensive skills and occasional power.
A year later, Gorecki doesn't find himself in the top 30 Cards prospects. He struggled mightily at Double-A Springfield before a demotion to Class A Palm Beach. Gorecki is in big-league camp again this year, having good at-bats and looking fine in the field, and trying to relax.
"I learned quite a bit from last year to this year," he said. "I learned a lot about our guys in this clubhouse and in the GM booth, and everywhere. They're pulling for me. They saw something they liked a couple years ago, something they liked when they drafted me, and I'm just waiting to show them that player again."
Gorecki was the center of attention for the new Springfield franchise last year. The Double-A team made him its signature player in its opening season. Unfortunately for player and team, Gorecki's performance didn't match the expectations.
He hit .182/.264/.277 (batting average/on-base/slugging) in 46 games for Springfield before eventually taking some time off and heading down to Palm Beach. Things clicked for him there, as he hit .286/.374/.457 after the demotion.
"I had my name in the paper," he said. "I was doing autograph signings and all that stuff. Not having done that before, not having someone to walk me through it, it was something that I had to kind of feel for myself.
"As a young player, you can only take so much pressure. I felt a ton of it on me. We were in a brand-new stadium. That team, we were supposed to do something up there. We were supposed to make a name for ourselves in the Texas League."
Given all that, Gorecki is understandably hesitant to put too much on himself as he enters 2006. But he knows how much it matters that he have a good year.
"I'm not looking too far ahead," he said. "I'm taking my old one-day-at-a-time approach. I had a poor year, but I finished it off all right. They say it's not how you start, it's how you finish. So I wasn't too displeased with my overall season. I was displeased with my early season. I'm just looking forward to starting up this season."
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
JUPITER, Fla. -- Reid Gorecki expected 2005 to be the biggest season of his career. As it turns out, the campaign pales in importance compared to what '06 will mean.
It's hard to call a player's age-25 season a make-or-break campaign, but it's close to that for the former 13th-round draft pick. Last year, Gorecki entered Spring Training as the Cardinals' No. 11 prospect (according to Baseball America) -- a speedy outfielder with defensive skills and occasional power.
A year later, Gorecki doesn't find himself in the top 30 Cards prospects. He struggled mightily at Double-A Springfield before a demotion to Class A Palm Beach. Gorecki is in big-league camp again this year, having good at-bats and looking fine in the field, and trying to relax.
"I learned quite a bit from last year to this year," he said. "I learned a lot about our guys in this clubhouse and in the GM booth, and everywhere. They're pulling for me. They saw something they liked a couple years ago, something they liked when they drafted me, and I'm just waiting to show them that player again."
Gorecki was the center of attention for the new Springfield franchise last year. The Double-A team made him its signature player in its opening season. Unfortunately for player and team, Gorecki's performance didn't match the expectations.
He hit .182/.264/.277 (batting average/on-base/slugging) in 46 games for Springfield before eventually taking some time off and heading down to Palm Beach. Things clicked for him there, as he hit .286/.374/.457 after the demotion.
"I had my name in the paper," he said. "I was doing autograph signings and all that stuff. Not having done that before, not having someone to walk me through it, it was something that I had to kind of feel for myself.
"As a young player, you can only take so much pressure. I felt a ton of it on me. We were in a brand-new stadium. That team, we were supposed to do something up there. We were supposed to make a name for ourselves in the Texas League."
Given all that, Gorecki is understandably hesitant to put too much on himself as he enters 2006. But he knows how much it matters that he have a good year.
"I'm not looking too far ahead," he said. "I'm taking my old one-day-at-a-time approach. I had a poor year, but I finished it off all right. They say it's not how you start, it's how you finish. So I wasn't too displeased with my overall season. I was displeased with my early season. I'm just looking forward to starting up this season."
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
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