SF Giants Press Clips Friday, May 5, 2017

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San Francisco Chronicle Can Giants go from hellish April to Playoffs? The 2001 A’s did Henry Schulman

The manager was ruminating on his team’s 8-18 start.

“It seemed like Murphy’s Law,” he said. “What could go wrong went wrong. We couldn’t seem to get a big hit late in the game. I can’t tell you how many times we had the bases loaded with nobody out in the ninth or 10th inning and we came up empty.”

The speaker could have been Bruce Bochy.

But no, it was former Oakland manager Art Howe, now 70, on the other end of a phone line at his Texas home. He was talking about his 2001 A’s, the only team in the wild-card era to lose 18 of its first 28 games and reach the playoffs.

Howe’s team went 94-42 the rest of the way and won 102 games, only to lose the American League West by 14 games because the Seattle Mariners won 116 in a once-in-a-lifetime season.

The A’s cruised to what was then the lone AL wild-card berth and lost to the Yankees in the Division Series.

Comparing the 2017 Giants to the 2001 A’s is a stretch that even Willie McCovey would have found impossible.

The eras were different and the teams were nothing alike. Those A’s scored 884 runs and hit 199 homers. They had two 30-homer hitters, Jason Giambi (38) and Eric Chavez (32). They frolicked in a wild, devil-may-care clubhouse in contrast to the 2017 Giants’ business lounge.

However, as these Giants continue their nine-game trip in Cincinnati, hoping to build on their series win in Los Angeles, they can view the ’01 A’s as a beacon that illuminates their slim hopes of playing October baseball.

In other words, it can be done.

The Giants actually were one game better after 26 games at 9-17. They need not worry about anyone in the National League West winning 116 games and they have an extra avenue to the playoffs that was not around in 2001.

“The biggest difference is the second wild card,” said A’s general manager Dave Forst, who was a 25-year-old assistant to then-GM Billy Beane in 2001. “We always talk amongst ourselves and say if you’re at .500 around the break, anything is possible. Depending on the year, you may need 85 or 86 wins to get the second wild card. It’s a different environment than 15 or 16 years ago.”

Which is why any talk of the Giants “tanking” is premature. Even as the worst team in the National League, they stand just four games behind for the second wild card and seven behind the division-leading Rockies.

“It’s hard to imagine at any point this early in the season counting yourself out, no matter what your record is,” Forst said. “You can be 10 games out in your division and find a playoff spot.”

To mirror the 2001 A’s, the Giants will have to reverse course soon and play excellent baseball. Oakland won 11 of 13 during one May stretch to end the month at 26-26.

The A’s faltered in April mainly because a great pitching staff had a terrible month. The team’s 5.38 ERA was second worst in the American League.

But they were confident that was an aberration and optimistic the Big Three of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito would steer the ship in the other direction.

“I think we always felt like with the rotation that we had, with those guys and Cory Lidle as the fourth guy, we always felt we could put together a string of wins, which is ultimately what we did,” Forst said.

The A’s ended the season with the second-best ERA in the league at 3.59.

Still, they were treading water at 41-43 as late as July 5 before they ended the first half with an interleague series at Arizona. Mulder, Hudson and Zito commandeered the series, which the A’s swept by scores of 3-0, 5-1 and 2-1. Forst remembers that as the biggest pivot of the season.

“That was the point where we thought, ‘OK, we really can get back into this because we have those three horses going,’” he said.

The Giants will be far more challenged because one of their Big Two, Madison Bumgarner, is out until the second half of the season after crashing a dirt bike and hurting his shoulder. In contrast, Hudson, Mulder and Zito pitched 235, 2291/3 and 2141/3 innings, respectively, in 2001.

The comparison falls apart at the plate.

The A’s had a dynamic leadoff hitter in Johnny Damon and a great lineup with Miguel Tejada, Ramon Hernandez, Terrence Long and, after a midseason trade, Jermaine Dye complementing Giambi and Chavez.

Steroid era or not, the A’s could rake, and Howe said their ability to change a game with one swing was “huge.”

“You can get out from behind the 8-ball in a hurry,” he said .”We had power up and down the lineup. It can create a rally in a heartbeat. It just seemed guys came through with long balls at the right time.”

Even watching from afar, Howe knows the Giants will have to do it a different way.

“They’re an experienced team,” he said. “Boch has been down this road 100 times. He knows how to handle it. They don’t seem to have a lot of power. They’ll have to do the little things real well to be more competitive.”

San Francisco Chronicle Giants fans should stop #beltbash over his walks Henry Schulman

Brandon Belt and Joey Votto ought to have a first-basemen's lunch before Friday night's series opener in Cincinnati.

Maybe they could bop over the Skyline Chili, order a three-way (not what you think, Brandon) and commiserate over the ridiculous abuse they take because they don't swing at pitches out of the strike zone.

Let's acknowledge that they are not the same player. Votto, 33, has a career OPS+ of 157 to Belt's 128, a way of measuring their ability to reach base and slug while filtering out their completely different ballparks.

Votto is a career .311 hitter and Belt has not finished a season better than .289. Votto also makes much more contact, striking out 18.4 percent of the time compared to Belt's 24.1 percent.

Now that we've established that Votto has been a better hitter over his career, we can move on to the fact that both do a great job of reaching base via walks.

Thanks to the 22 he has drawn in 122 plate appearances, Belt has a .393 on-base percentage that ranks 12th in the league, behind only Buster Posey's .420 on the Giants. Votto, off to a rougher start overall, is 29th in OBP at .362.

Votto and Belt take a mountain of criticism because they do not expand their zones to drive in more runs, and I'll grant you that even within the Giants dugout there are times folks cringe when Belt takes a called third strike on a belt-high fastball with runners aboard.

There are many old-timers who do not passivity from big hitters, especially with runners on base. Giants coach Shawon Dunston, in particular, believers in a much different strategy that roughly can be summarized as "swing that damn bat."

On the other hand, some players scoff at the criticism. Joe Panik reminded that it's awfully hard to hit a 94-mph fastball if the pitcher spots it on the corners. When the hitter goes after the pitches off the plate in search of RBIs they are playing into the pitchers' hands and usually make outs.

It's wrong to criticize players with good eyes for doing what they have been taught since Little League, to swing at strikes and not at balls.

Manager Bruce Bochy has acknowledged this by batting Belt second in the lineup, a good spot for a high-OBP guy (but even better for one who makes better contact than Belt).

I doubt any manager in the majors who would turn down a No. 2 hitter who reaches base four of 10 times. In Wednesday night’s 4-1, 11-inning victory at Dodger Stadium, he reached five times, with four walks and an RBI single.

The Giants' issue is the hitters behind Belt -- partiularly Hunter Pence, Buster Posey and others - - not driving in the runs in rallies that Belt helps create by reaching base. The offense as a whole has not been good despite Bochy's best efforts to shake it up at times.

Belt's strikeouts can be maddening, particularly when he misses pitches that look hitable. Striking out one of every four times is not ideal for a team that usually needs two or three hits to score one run. If there's an area where he could be better, it's there, and he works on it.

But so you know, despite a .260 average, Belt still leads the Giants in slugging (.470), homers (four), extra-base hits (12) and for you old-timers out there, RBIs (14).

Posey upset: We did not see it on the Dodgers feed, but Buster Posey was up in arms in the dugout after Belt failed to score from second on Posey's 10th-inning single Wednesday. After the Giants wasted the bases-loaded, one-out rally, cameras caught Posey visibly upset in a brief but animated conversation with third-base coach Phil Nevin.

Posey lined a two-strike pitch to center. Off the bat it looked like an RBI, but Nevin held Belt at third. The camera from the Giants broadcast caught showed Posey at first base uttering some expletives.

We did not talk to Posey after the game, so it would be unfair to speculate at whom he was angry. But if you read lips and have access to the game replay on MLB.com or the app, watch Posey at first base and judge for yourself.

At Dodger Stadium, we sit on almost a direct line with the plate and center field. When I saw where Belt was when Andrew Toles reached Posey's single, I thought to myself that if Belt tries to score, he's toast. After the game Bochy said Belt had not touched third by the time Toles gloved the ball.

The replay showed that Belt had a good secondary lead and took off at the crack of the bat, though he might have slowed a bit as he approached third.

With one out, Belt not running like he once did and Christian Arroyo up next, it seemed like a good "hold" at the time. Toles' throw was up the first-base line, but the Giants know he has a strong arm and Nevin cannot predict where the throw will go. He made a split-second decision.

After I tweeted that Nevin was right to hold Belt, several followers complained that the coach should have taken the risk because the Giants have been so bad at getting big hits, and really, what do they have to lose?

While I don't think a third-base coach should look at the standings before he makes a decision, I'll concede that the question raised by the fans is worthy of discussion.

Fortunately for the Giants, the point was moot after they scored three runs in the 11th to win.

MLB.com What’s with Giants’ slow start? Chris Haft

Can anyone seriously answer why the Giants are losing so many games? I know a lot of Giants fans are frustrated, but I'd seriously like to have an actual real answer. Thank you. -- Denise A., Fresno

As is the case when the Giants have sailed to and through the postseason, the April malaise was a team effort. The Giants struggled in every aspect of the game at various junctures during the month. However, their inability to score runs was their most glaring shortcoming. Even the worst teams grab a three- or four-run lead once in a while. The Giants almost never created this luxury for themselves. Thus, their pitchers had to perform with no margin for error.

You've heard this before and you'll hear it again: Scoring four runs a game is part of the Giants' basic formula for winning, because they steadfastly believe they can consistently limit opponents to three or fewer runs. But without the offense doing its small but significant part, the whole equation dissolves. • Submit a question to the Giants Inbox If Gary Brown had lived up to his potential as a Giants first-round pick, we wouldn't be in this current mess. Free agency or a trade is the only quick fix. Can the Giants trade for Ryan Braun without sending Milwaukee our best prospects? -- Ed B., San Francisco This is pure speculation, but if the Giants were to broach the subject of a Braun deal with

Milwaukee, I suspect that the Brewers brass would be able to smell the desperation seeping from AT&T Park. I also believe that the Brewers would indeed ask for top prospects such as right-hander Tyler Beede, outfielder Bryan Reynolds or left-hander Andrew Suarez.

At 33, Braun conceivably has a solid year or two left, if not more. But I doubt that the Giants would seek a "quick fix," to use your term, such as Braun. Especially a quick fix who comes with a hefty salary and heavy (PED-related) baggage. Have there been thoughts about giving Kelby Tomlinson center field and moving Denard Span to left? Or even putting Kelby in left? He has the speed. -- Todd C., Eureka, Calif.

The Giants considered using Tomlinson in the outfield a couple of years ago to broaden his considerable skills as a utility player. The club ultimately decided that staying sharp at second base, shortstop and third base was enough of a challenge for him. Thus, I don't foresee the Giants asking Tomlinson to fill the left-field void, especially in the middle of the regular season. But I can envision Tomlinson eventually playing the outfield part-time, because I think the Giants (and Tomlinson himself) would embrace his adapting to a "super-utility" role. Did you forget about Jeff Kent at second base on your all-time Giants team? He has Hall of Fame potential. Robby Thompson was cool, but he comes in second to Kent in my book. -- Robert J., Pasadena, Calif.

Mine, too. You're right: I completely forgot about Kent, probably due to advancing senility. However, I can assure you that I don't forget about Kent when I fill out my Hall of Fame ballot every year. He belongs in Cooperstown, and I can't understand why so many of my counterparts snub him. The Giants could use a steady lineup every day. Joe Panik should hit second and Brandon Belt should bat fourth behind Buster Posey. And they've got to get a better left fielder. What's your opinion on this? -- Barry K., Brooklyn, N.Y.

Through the years, I've come to believe that batting orders are somewhat overrated. Sure, certain players fill certain roles better than others. Then again, elite individuals such as Willie Mays and Barry Bonds would have amassed impressive statistics no matter where they hit (well, as long as they remained in the top five). As for the left fielder, I wholeheartedly agree,

8 though I wonder when the window of opportunity will open again. Who is the player to be named later in the Chris Heston deal with Seattle? -- Luis L., Lancaster, Calif.

The teams have until July 1 to strike an agreement. Expect the Giants to take as much time as they need.

CSNbayarea.com Giants Notes Alex Pavlovic

LOS ANGELES -- The new visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadium is narrow, which at times makes it the perfect runway. Wednesday was one of those times. After picking up his first career win, left-hander Steven Okert was stuffed into a cart.

"They rolled me in there," Okert said. "I got the shower."

The beer shower is a tradition for pitchers who pick up their first win. It's been going on for decades, with some slight tweaks (these days players are very aware of the location of their phone). Okert's journey was well-earned, and not just because he recorded five outs. Two nights earlier, he got five outs before turning the ball over to Derek Law for a one-out save.

"I set him up this time," Law said, smiling.

Okert came on in the ninth with a runner on. He got Corey Seager to ground into a double play. The 10th brought three more outs.

"Both games he played such a critical role in winning the ballgame," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He got the win, his first, and good for him. What a great job he did. It was much-needed, too."

Teams have been stacking lefty starters against the Dodgers, but Okert put a twist on it. He churned through outs in the bullpen, and he said he figured that might be the case.

"I had a feeling I might throw a little more here," he said. "I had three days off against San Diego and I came in feeling good and feeling ready. I knew coming into this that it was a possibility of something like this."

The Giants and Dodgers do not look headed for a late-September race to the finish. But their games always mean a little more, and it appears Okert will be a huge part of this season's

9 matchups.

--- From last night, here's my game story. The win was No. 1,800 for Bochy. Eight previous managers won 1,800 games and three World Series titles and all are in the Hall of Fame. It's been a lock for Bochy for some time.

--- Joe Panik had two more hits, including a deep double off Julio Urias. The splits are what they are, but maybe that knock was enough to get him a full-time tryout atop the lineup. At the very least, he figures to be there Friday against right-hander Bronson Arroyo, who is still pitching somehow.

Panik's double almost wasn't one. Say what you will about Yasiel Puig, but nobody makes that play as close as he did. He remains one of the most exciting players in the game, and Panik had to hustle for two on a ball that hit the wall. He said he looked up and saw Puig grab it and turn.

"It's, 'Alright, well you better kick it into another gear if you've got one,'" he said. "There's nothing that surprises me with him anymore. He's got a great arm."

--- The clubhouse won't be as full against the Reds. Aaron Hill (forearm) left Wednesday to head to Arizona for more rehab and another MRI. Bochy said this is "taking longer than we thought and he thought. It's just not coming around as first hoped." Denard Span is also going to the facility in Scottsdale. That one is also up in the air a little.

Brandon Crawford took BP and did quite a bit of baseball work on the field Thursday. It will be a close call when the 10 days on the DL are up. Crawford hopes to return to the lineup Saturday, but the staff is being a bit more cautious. Bochy said Crawford will need to be 100 percent to return.

"With the difficult types of plays that he has to make, you can't bring him back (early)," he said.

--- If you missed it, Panik was my latest podcast guest. You can stream it here or download on iTunes here.

Yahoosports.com Giants’ Cain would welcome some help against Reds STATS/SX

CINCINNATI -- San Francisco Giants right-hander Matt Cain has received little run support and the bullpen hasn't helped much either. But he continues to be the team's most dependable starter.

"He's really done a nice job," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Really has just done a great job of bouncing back from last year. He's worked hard and he's doing some good things out there. Commanding the ball, changing speeds on his breaking ball, good changeup. Really throwing quality strikes and that's a good thing to see."

Perhaps most important, Cain appears to be recovered from a hamstring issue that forced him out of his April 24 start. Cain will make his sixth start of the season Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.

He has allowed only three earned runs and one homer in his past 23 innings. In 27 1/3 innings this season, Cain has walked nine and struck out 22.

"I think I can just get better about trying to get guys to create more contact early to maybe get a little deeper in the game," Cain said. "I'm constantly trying to grow as a pitcher. Each start going out there you're learning stuff, you're finding different ways to get guys out, trying to be creative with it."

Cain also has endured his share of tough luck.

The Giants (10-18) have produced just nine runs in Cain's five starts. He left his last outing on Saturday with a 3-1 lead, only to have the bullpen allow 11 runs in the final four innings of a 12- 4 loss to San Diego.

Cain, 32, is in his 12th major-league season and has 103 career victories entering the opener of a three-game series at Cincinnati. He's 5-5 against the Reds with a 3.44 ERA in 12 starts.

"I still want to be able to go out there and know that every fifth day this is what you're going to get," Cain said.

Cincinnati (14-14) will counter with 40-year-old right-hander Bronson Arroyo, who's making his sixth start of the season and 271st as a Red. He's 2-2 with a 7.20 ERA in his return after missing more than two seasons due to elbow and shoulder surgeries. He's 6-5 versus San Francisco with a 2.90 ERA in 15 career starts, including three complete games.

Beginning in 2008, Cincinnati is 36-24 against San Francisco, the best winning percentage of any Giants opponent, including 25-16 in the past six seasons.

Despite some key injuries in the starting rotation, the rebuilding Reds are off to a solid start and keeping pace in the National League Central with wins in four of their past five. The Reds took three of four from the Pittsburgh Pirates this week after finishing the series with a 4-2 victory Thursday.

"There's some parity to start the season," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "I think you look around and most people would think the Cubs have the most talent and the most depth in the rotation and the bullpen and the regulars bench. They're built to be winning right now.

"However, they haven't created that separation and everyone else is kind of lingering around."

SI.com The slugger & The Scout: How Kyle Schwarber became the consummate Chicago cub Ben Reiter

It was a warm afternoon in Chicago last July, and Theo Epstein was pissed. The Cubs’ president of baseball operations stormed out of his office, across Waveland Avenue, through Wrigley Field’s concourse and into the team’s new subterranean clubhouse. With his cell phone hot in his pocket after scrolling through the latest round of baseball rumors on Twitter, he headed directly to the source of his ire, who was where he had spent most of the season: on a training table, his left knee encased in bags of ice, sweat from yet another excruciating rehab session dripping from his steel-wool goatee.

Epstein let him have it. “There’s no way we trade you, all right?” he told Kyle Schwarber, who at 23 had participated in a total of 80 major league games, none of them recent. “You got hurt as a Cub. You’re rehabbing as a Cub. You’re going to come back and drop a homer on someone on Opening Day next year as a Cub. You’re a huge part of this team. You’re coming back. Just wanted to tell you that.”

Schwarber let his boss’s words sink in. Dozens of uncertain futures fell away. “Phew,” he said. “Good. Thanks!”

Despite himself, Schwarber had bought into the rumors, and not just for the conventional wisdom that suggested because of his perceived deficiencies as a catcher and leftfielder, he was destined to wind up in the American League as a designated hitter. Schwarber believed

12 he could play both positions well, and he knew the Cubs believed the same.

The problem was his knee. He had shredded it in an outfield collision with Dexter Fowler in the third game of the season, and the timeline of his rehab didn’t match the Cubs’ aspirations of ending 108 years of cursed misery as soon as possible—a goal that would require adding an ace reliever. The worst part, the part that gnawed at Schwarber, was that he knew dealing him made perfect sense.

“If I was a GM, I would probably have traded me,” he says. “You’re on the brink of history, and if you could get a plus piece—Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller—for a guy who can’t play? I was like, Man, I might be toast here.”

Brian Cashman of the Yankees had indeed dangled Chapman or Miller. The Royals’ Dayton Moore mentioned Wade Davis. But Epstein had stopped those conversations before they had really begun. He would end up acquiring Chapman—not for Schwarber, but for a package headed by top shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres.

“It’s real easy to throw baseless stuff out there to get clicks, and it sucks for him to have to see that,” says Epstein. “He’s not some guy we picked up on the waiver wire.”

Just three months later, a few hours before the first pitch of Game 1 of the World Series, Epstein stood behind the backstop at Cleveland’s Progressive Field, surrounded by reporters who wanted to hear about the surprising player Epstein had just reactivated: Kyle Schwarber.

This time Epstein spoke in quiet and measured tones. “I think he’ll have a moment where he’ll do something special,” he said of a player who hadn’t taken a big league swing since early April, and who had somehow forced his knee to heal months faster than even the most optimistic prognosis.

Eight nights after that, Schwarber ripped his seventh hit in 17 Series at bats—a stinging

13 single to right leading off the top of the 10th in Game 7, sparking the title-clinching rally that generations of Chicagoans thought would never come. It wasn’t just something special. It ensured Schwarber’s status as a legend in the Windy City. It also prompted a question about Epstein, who cemented his position as the best baseball executive of his era. When he drafted Schwarber far higher than any other team would have; when he refused to part with Schwarber; when he guaranteed that Schwarber would do something memorable in the World Series: How did Theo Epstein know ?

The first time Schwarber met Epstein, the player was certain he’d blown it. It was February 2014, and Schwarber’s college team, Indiana—which he had led to its first Big Ten title in 54 years—was in Surprise, Ariz., to play a tournament. The Cubs had just opened a new spring training facility in Mesa, and after another losing season they controlled the fourth pick in the June draft. “Out of the goodness of our hearts, we volunteered to let Indiana hit here,” Epstein deadpans.

Schwarber didn’t hit much of anything. “A terrible BP,” says Epstein. “He was rolling over, mishitting balls.” Even so, Epstein invited Schwarber up to his office for a 45-minute meeting that included scouting director Jason McLeod. Schwarber was nervous. “Everyone knows who Theo Epstein is,” he says. “He’s the god of baseball, of turning things around.” The conversation went well enough until Epstein asked him if he’d be able to catch in the majors; scouts had begun to criticize his skills behind the plate. Schwarber’s reply: “It really f------pisses me off when people say I can’t catch.”

Schwarber caught his breath. He had just deployed an f-bomb in a job interview with the god of baseball, who was now looking back at him stone-faced.

At least there were 29 other teams.

After the meeting, though, Epstein provided a review to Hoosiers coach Tracy Smith. “He’s in my top two I’ve ever talked to, in terms of personality,” he said. “The other was Dustin Pedroia.” Schwarber’s response to the catching question had helped clinch it. “He cursed— neither here nor there,” explains Epstein. “But he showed real strong conviction, belief in himself and in his ability to handle anything you could throw at him.”

What Schwarber didn’t know was that Epstein’s interest in him had piqued long before that meeting—at 2:22 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2013, to be precise. Hours earlier Epstein’s former club, the Red Sox, had won Game 3 of the ALCS. Led by lefthanded slugger David Ortiz, they had the look of a champion.

So did the collegiate player whose videotaped swing the Red Sox’ success compelled Epstein to stay up late watching, in the guest room of his Chicago house so as not to wake his wife. As he studied the footage, he fired off an email to McLeod, GM Jed Hoyer and three other members of his front office, in which he mentioned Ortiz and two of Chicago’s earlier first- rounders, infielder Javier Báez and third baseman Kris Bryant. The subject line read schwarber .

“I’m making a call right now that Schwarber is going to be our pick and put up Big Papi numbers [in] LF for us for a decade. Off video, this guy has one of the shortest LH swings I’ve ever seen, and the power speaks for itself ... Let’s stick this dude right between Javy and Bryant and call it a day.”

The email was impulsive, but Epstein had been emboldened by input from his secret weapon: Stan Zielinski, the Cubs scout who covered the Midwest. “I love him,” Zielinski would whisper in the background of the videos of Schwarber he recorded for his bosses. “I love him.”

Zielinski grew up outside Chicago and played ball at St. Mary’s College in Winona, Minn. He worked at a country club before he found his life’s passion at 27, in 1979, when the White Sox hired him as a scout. He went on to work for the Expos and the Marlins before joining the Cubs in 2001. While Zielinski earned success and respect for signing future stars like outfielder Cliff Floyd and pitcher Jeff Samardzija, he always turned down front-office promotions. He didn’t want to be the executive who approved players‚ he wanted to be the scout who dug deep and discovered qualities that no one else saw.

The job was grueling. Zielinski put 50,000 miles a year on his Toyota Camry covering his territory, which stretched from Minnesota to Tennessee. He was only really home with Holly, whom he married in 1983, and their kids, Zachary and Anna, for November, December and some of January. He could find every Marriott in the Midwest without a map, and sometimes they put his name on the marquee if they knew he was coming. He’d send Holly and the kids on vacations with his loyalty points. He could never go. His booming voice belied his humility; he never let Holly send out the family Christmas letter without editing down the paragraph about himself.

In Kyle Schwarber, Zielinski believed he’d found the type of player that some scouts never do. He pulled clips of Schwarber’s swings and those of Babe Ruth, and called Holly and the kids over to his laptop. “Don’t you see it?” he asked his family, his fist zealously clenched. “Don’t you guys see it?”

Everyone in pro ball knew he could hit: Over his final two years at Indiana he batted .362 with 32 homers in 120 games. The problem was where he’d play. Schwarber was built square, at 6 feet and 240 pounds, and, given the concerns about his defense, he didn’t seem to fit at any position. Since he wasn’t a base stealer either, he appeared to have only his bat to recommend him. He looked like a late first-rounder, at best.

Zielinski didn’t think so. In a scouting report filed on May 4, 2014—one filled with the enthusiastic capitalizations for which he was known—he compared Schwarber not only to John Wayne, for his toughness, but also to another American hero: “Squint your eyes and imagine a grainy film of Babe Ruth hitting a ball in the stands, I swear I saw that reenacted today as the ball flew out over the 2nd fence in RF. He really loves to play. He can work out inconsistencies with his mechanics behind the plate with teaching. He’ll be a ML Catcher.”

USAtoday.com Who is Cincinnati’s fastest man? Billy Hamilton wants to race John Ross C. Trent Rosecrans

Billy Hamilton versus John Ross? The Reds’ speedster is up for it if the Bengals’ first- round pick is.

“It's something I look forward to. I'm a competitor, if something happens with him, it happens,” Hamilton said following Thursday’s 4-2 victory over the Pirates. “We'll do it for a charity event. I'm willing to do it.”

Ross set an NFL Combine record with a 4.22-second 40-yard dash in March. Hamilton sent Ross a tweet welcoming him to Cincinnati after the Bengals drafted him No. 9 overall last week. Since then, there’s been plenty of talk about who would win a side- by-side race.

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“I think we could do 40 and I think it'd be a good race for the city and for me and him to get our names out there,” Hamilton said, noting he hasn’t run a timed 40-yard dash since ninth grade when he put up a 4.5-second 40. “It's something we could look forward to looking into, our agents (could talk) and see how it goes.”

Reds reserve Patrick Kivlehan played college football at Rutgers and knows that as far as his experience goes, Hamilton can run with anyone. The former defensive back also knows he wouldn’t have a shot at covering Hamilton.

“I'd need some inside help,” Kivlehan said. “I’m probably the over-the-top help, someone else can guard him. I'll just sit back on the hash and try to pick one off.”

Hamilton is the fastest man in baseball and on Thursday became the fourth-fastest player in baseball history to get to 200 steals for his career, reaching it in 424 games with a fifth-inning steal against Pirates starter Ivan Nova and catcher Francisco Cervelli.

The 200th stolen base of his career broke a tie with Edd Roush for seventh place on the team’s all-time list. He now stands just 21 steals behind Vada Pinson for sixth. Joe Morgan’s 406 are the most in Reds history and well beyond that lies Rickey Henderson’s big-league record of 1,406.

Hamilton said he hadn’t been aware of the impending milestone until a couple of days

ago when athletic trainer Tomas Vera wrote on his leg wrapping, “3 more to CC.” Hamilton said he gets his legs and knees wrapped before every game to help protect the pounding on his legs and Vera always writes something, be it a message or a quote.

The “3 more to CC” stumped Hamilton, who asked Vera what it meant. Vera simply told him he’d know when he got there. After two steals in Tuesday’s game, Verra told him there was only “one more to go.” That’s when Hamilton figured out he meant 200 career steals and only later putting together the Roman numeral for 200.

“It means a lot to be up there with the greatest people in stolen bases, but it's something you've got to keep moving forward and keep getting more, there's a long way to go to get the record. I saw the record the other day, it's over 1,000… It's a long way to go. It's something i've got to keep building off of and moving forward.”

Foxsports.com Aaron Judge is making a powerful impression on the Yankees Ken Rosenthal

If Aaron Judge had been a sure thing, he would not have lasted until the 32nd selection of the 2013 draft.

“Going strictly by analytics, you would not have picked him because of his size, the strikeouts, the history of people at that size getting to the big leagues. It’s a very small sample – people like Frank Howard,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said.

Judge, 6-foot-7, 282 pounds, is a freakish athlete who was offered football scholarships and drew physical comparisons to NBA star Blake Griffin in high school. His power in baseball, when he made contact, was undeniable.

Still, only 12 hitters in major-league history, 6-6 or taller, have achieved 1,000 career plate appearances, according to MLB Network research – though eight of them, including Howard, became All-Stars, and one, Dave Winfield, made it to the Hall of Fame.

The Yankees had three first-round picks in ’13, and they were willing to risk one on Judge because they saw something beyond his athleticism, something that not only helped him reach

18 the majors, but also should help him withstand the challenges that even the most talented players face:

Derek Jeter makeup.

The first time I heard the Jeter comparison was during the Yankees’ first series in Tampa Bay, when bench coach Rob Thomson mentioned it to FOX’s A.J. Pierzynski.

“He struck out in half his at-bats last year and never changed,” Thomson told me later, citing Judge’s 42 Ks in 84 ABs. “He walked into the clubhouse the same every day, his head up, his chest out, ‘let’s go.’”

Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

That first weekend, when the Yankees were in Baltimore, I mentioned to catcher Austin Romine the industry-wide concerns about whether Judge would make enough contact.

Romine, all but dismissing the point, replied, “He’s smart. He’ll figure it out.”

Judge, 25, is figuring it out all right.

On Wednesday, he became the youngest player in major-league history to hit 13 home runs in his team’s first 26 games of a season, according to the Yankees.

Those 13 homers lead the majors. His 10 in April tied the major-league record for the most in that month by a rookie. Judge has struck out 27 times in 88 at-bats, but also has walked 15 times, and overall is batting .330 with a 1.251 OPS while playing a stellar right field.

On Monday, Yankees manager Joe Girardi went public with the Jeter comp – not saying that Judge had the same ability and potential as Jeter, simply pointing out their similarities in demeanor and approach.

A player can receive no higher praise.

“He is a little bit like Jeter for me,” Girardi said. “He has a smile all the time. He loves to play the game. You always think he is going to do the right thing on the field and off the field.”

Jake Roth/Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees did not initially know that Judge had “Jeter makeup” – no one at the time of the draft in ’13 would compare a junior at Fresno State to an all-time Yankee great.

But the team does extensive research on players’ characters, dispatching a member of its mental conditioning staff to personally interview more than 125 potential draft picks each year.

A high school or college player who refuses such an interview loses any chance of getting drafted by the Yankees, according to the team’s amateur scouting director, Damon Oppenheimer.

The Yankees hardly are the only team that emphasizes makeup; the Cubs, for example, are careful to acquire players they believe are good people, regarding it as an important aspect of their recent success.

Judge, in the Yankees’ estimation, had the mental strength to overcome the obstacles that a hitter his size would face – getting to balls down and away and away, for one. Some in the industry, however, feared that his contact problems might prove insurmountable, though Judge’s strikeout rate at Fresno State was not much higher than Kris Bryant’s at the University of San Diego over the same three-year period.

Beane said he did not view Judge’s size as a risk. The Yankees’ Oppenheimer concurred, saying that Judge’s athleticism eased his concerns – Judge played center field at Fresno, ran the 60- yard-dash in 6.7 seconds, displayed good, natural actions.

And yet . . .

“Even in college, he was still a rough, rough diamond,” Beane said. “It was a little bit of a conundrum.

“The good analytics were off the charts – the things you see now, the strength. What he did was so unique. But what he didn’t do (making contact) was always a red flag. It’s a concern for a high school kid who is 18. But if it’s still an issue after three years of college, it might always be an issue.”

The Astros chose Stanford right-hander Mark Appel with the No. 1 choice in ’13, the Cubs took Bryant at No. 2. The A’s, at No. 24, selected high-school outfielder Billy McKinney.

The Yankees went with Notre Dame infielder Eric Jagielo at No. 26, Judge with the compensation pick for Nick Swisher at No. 32 and high-school left-hander Ian Clarkin with the compensation pick for Rafael Soriano at No. 33.

Jagielo, who turns 25 on May 17, is at Double A for the third straight season after getting traded to the Reds in the Aroldis Chapman deal, batting only .185 with a .510 OPS.

Clarkin, 22, is trying to rebound at High A after several injury-marred seasons, and has a 2.25 ERA after four starts.

Then there is Judge, a leading candidate for American League Rookie of the Year – and at the moment, MVP.

“He’s very confident in his ability. But there’s no cockiness,” Cashman said. “There’s respect for the game, opponents, front office and ownership. All those things – check, check, check. Just like the attributes people saw in Jeter.”

Credits his parents

At Fenway Park last week, I asked Judge where his makeup came from.

“What do you mean?” Judge asked, seemingly unaware of the term.

“Personality,” I replied. “Demeanor. Approach to the game.”

“I probably got it from my parents at a young age,” Judge said. “They taught me right from wrong, how to treat people, treat them with respect.”

Judge’s adoptive parents, Wayne and Patty, are retired teachers. His older brother, John, 30, also is a teacher, an English instructor in South Korea.

Judge said he had to follow certain rules and maintain a certain GPA for the “privilege” of playing sports and video games.

Fresno State coach Mike Batesole describes him as “a special, special kid.”

“That can only come from Mom and Dad,” Batesole said. “When it’s that deep and that real,

21 that means he was raised right.”

Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Cashman agreed, saying that the Yankees cannot take credit for their players’ characters; only their parents can. But the Yankees, starting in 2005, began digging deeper into makeup, hiring Chad Bohling as their first mental-conditioning specialist.

To Cashman, such a move only made sense – “We’re the New York Yankees. We can use every tool in the toolbox.” He recalled attending Georgetown Prep in Washington, D.C., and the Jesuit instructors talking about building a person spiritually, mentally and physically.

Same idea here.

“Everybody spends so much time trying to perfect the pitcher, the position player, the swing, the pitch – all physical,” Cashman said. “But there’s a mental side to this game, too. I thought, ‘We are not maximizing our potential. We’re not exercising the brain aspect of this thing, too.’”

It wasn’t just the Yankees who were missing out; the Athletics made Harvey Dorfman the game’s first mental-performance coach in 1984, but other clubs were not quick to follow suit.

Jason Miller/Getty Images

The Indians hired Charlie Maher as their director of psychological services in 1995, but their farm director at the time, Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro, did not recall many clubs then – if any – using the same type of systematic, organization-wide approach that a good number of clubs employ now.

In 2005, Cashman – aware of the Indians’ success on the mental side – contacted Shapiro, who by then was the team’s GM. Shapiro put Cashman in touch with Maher, who recommended five names to the Yankees. One was Bohling, who then was working for the Jacksonville Jaguars and at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fl.

Cashman said he received special insight into Bohling from Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin, who was the father of Tim Coughlin, Cashman’s roommate when he was Yankees assistant GM.

The Yankees had found their man.

Bohling, now the team’s director of mental conditioning, heads a department that recently expanded to five. The mental conditioning staff covers the majors, minors and draft; Bohling, who also consults for the Dallas Cowboys, said he spends about 85 percent of his time with the major-league club.

Oppenheimer, the team’s scouting director, values the interviews of draft prospects more than many clubs do, Bohling said.

The Yankees at first interviewed only a handful of players. Chris Passarella, the team’s associate director of mental conditioning, now speaks with more than 100 a year, Bohling said. Bohling interviews about 25, and the newly hired coordinator of mental conditioning, Lauren Abarca, also will talk with promising high schoolers and collegians.

The Yankees try to determine who each prospect is as a person and as a player, Bohling said. What kind of teammate he is. What kind of leader. How professional he is. How mature. How he might handle adversity, New York, the pressure of playing for the Yankees.

About a month before the ’13 draft, Bohling flew cross-country to interview Judge. The two spoke for about an hour at a restaurant near the Fresno State campus, Bohling said.

“I definitely walked away with a good feeling about him, as a person No. 1, but also the makeup of him as a player, too,” Bohling said. “I asked him a lot of questions baseball- related, non-baseball related. He checked off a lot of the boxes for me to give an approval to Damon. He was the right kind of kid. Right kind of mindset. Background was really good.”

Bohling, though, made a point of saying that the Yankees’ scouts also are a “vital piece” in helping determine a player’s makeup.

Former major-league catcher Troy Afenir, the area scout assigned to Judge, said he observed the player closely and also relayed a positive impression.

“He just had the character you look for in a young man. Maturity. Responsibility. He really took charge of his what he needed to do each day.

“You watch them when they fail as much as when they succeed. He handled everything with the utmost responsibility and respect for the game.”

Listen to Judge’s interviews now, and he almost always deflects questions about himself, citing the contributions of teammates.

Rarely do you heard the word, “I” – a lesson that was driven home at Fresno State.

“At our place, any time you say, ‘Me-mine-myself,’ it costs you a buck in the fine box,” Batesole said.

Brains and brawn, lots of it

Of course, Judge is not defined solely by his impressive makeup, just as he is not defined solely by his massive physique.

He possesses extraordinary athleticism and aptitude, too.

Balesole has a favorite story that he tells about Judge, one that convinced him that his star pupil would not simply be a major leaguer, but one who played in the majors for at least 10 years.

Every year around Thanksgiving, the Fresno State coach organizes a 5-on-5, touch-football league for his players after Thanksgiving, giving them a break from their standard conditioning.

The football field extends from right field to center, Batesole said. The players get into it, coming up with team names, wearing team shirts, keeping stats, the works.

Batesole, watching Judge maneuver around the field as a freshman, could not believe his eyes.

“These guys – and these are Division I athletes he’s playing with – could not touch him,” Batesole said.

“When I saw that the first time, it was like Barry Sanders quickness and agility. You’re going to tell me I’m crazy. But they could not touch him. And I’m going, ‘This is a freak here now. This is different.’”

How different?

Batesole recalled that Judge also was a pitcher in high school and thought about pitching at Fresno.

“It’s lucky I’m the hitting coach as well as the head coach,” Batesole said, chuckling. “If I was the pitching coach as a head coach, he’d probably be pitching in the big leagues right now.”

The 6-foot-7 Judge, 6-8 Dellin Betances and 6-4 Aroldis Chapman would be quite a sight in the Yankees’ bullpen, but it’s opposing pitchers, not opposing hitters, who ended up worrying about Judge.

Batesole said that Judge, despite his calm demeanor, possesses a “mean streak” that will enable to him to fight through slumps.

Judge also displays rare aptitude, similar to what Batesole saw in one of his former players at his previous stop, Cal-State Northridge – former major-league infielder Adam Kennedy.

“Any time those two guys ever had a problem offensively, I could fix them in a half-bucket,” Batesole said, meaning a half bucket of baseballs that he would throw to them during batting practice. “It doesn’t take three days to work a kink out.

“(Judge) has such a good feel mechanically, he’s not going to be one of those guys who is always worried about his mechanics. He’s going to be on to working the situation, working the pitcher, working the count.”

For the Yankees, every last detail mattered, considering that Judge was such a physical outlier. They might have passed on him, even with the extra picks in the first round, if they had not considered him the whole package.

Afenir, Bohling, national crosschecker Brian Barber and special assignment scout Jim Hendry – the Cubs’ former GM – all contributed to the evaluation of Judge.

Oppenheimer noted that the Yankees’ people often saw Judge perform well, making it easier to envision him as a successful major leaguer.

So at pick No. 32, with Judge still available, the Yankees jumped.

“Our scouts who saw him really felt that this is the kind of guy who – once he puts everything together with the makeup, the performance that we saw, the athlete – had a chance to be an

25 impact guy,” Oppenheimer said. “We needed to take a shot on a guy who could bring impact to the Yankees.”

So far, so good, wouldn’t you say?

Blake Griffin body. Barry Sanders agility. Derek Jeter makeup.

And Aaron Judge power.

BOSTON -- Manny Machado grew up in Miami, just like his idol. He wears No. 13, bats right-handed and hits towering home runs, just like his idol. A few years ago, he even moved from shortstop to third base, just like his idol once did. And now, after this week, Machado has something else in common with Alex Rodriguez : He's the chief villain in a rivalry with the Boston Red Sox . After three days of threats and accusations, fiery tempers and frigid stares, warnings from umpires and even a lecture from the commissioner, the Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles got back to merely playing baseball Thursday night at Fenway Park. And it was Machado, the slugger at the center of it all, who got the last word, launching a three-run homer over everything in left field to fuel an 8-3 victory and give the Orioles a split of the four-game series. A-Rod must have been proud.

The Sox and O's play each other 10 more times, including a four-game series June 1-4 in Baltimore, leaving plenty of opportunity for more shenanigans between the teams. But regardless of which direction the most heated active rivalry in the American League East goes from here, this much is clear: Machado will be the lightning rod (no pun intended) for all the nonsense, just like A-Rod was during the peak of the Red Sox-Yankees grudge matches a decade ago.

In a series in which he was at the center of controversy -- and hit three home runs -- Manny Machado was public enemy No. 1 at Fenway Park. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images "What nonsense?" Machado told reporters. "That's baseball. Whatever happens on the field stays there between the lines. We've just got to go out there and control what we can control and go about our business."

26 head. Machado received what amounted to an on-field apology from Pedroia -- "It's not me, it's them," the Red Sox de facto captain shouted from across the field -- and Barnes got a four-game suspension. Fast forward to this week. Machado was booed before every at-bat at Fenway, but that was nothing compared to the greeting he got Tuesday night from Red Sox ace Chris Sale , who whipped a 98 mph first-pitch fastball behind his knees in the first inning. That prompted an epic and totally not-suitable-for-work postgame rant from Machado, who dropped 12 F-bombs in about 90 seconds. He said he lost respect for the Red Sox and said he would use his bat to "crush somebody" who tried to hit him if it wouldn't get him "suspended for a year." Go ahead and watch it again online. Just cover your children's ears. Better yet, check out the home run Machado hit in the fourth inning Thursday night against Red Sox starter Kyle Kendrick to break a 3-3 tie. It was the third time Machado went deep in the series and was by far the longest, calculated at 456 feet, according to ESPN Home Run Tracker. It also had an exit velocity of 119.4 mph, which is downright A-Rodian. "I just feel like I'm getting back in the groove," Machado said. "It's been a month now that I've struggled a little bit, but I'm finally, little by little, taking baby steps, feeling better at the plate, seeing the ball a little better, still making good contact with the ball."

The Red Sox tried five times over the past two weeks to throw pitches that made contact with Machado. They failed each time. Instead, Machado has hit four homers in his last seven games against the Red Sox.

(Want to bet the Yankees took notice? Machado is eligible for free agency after next season, after all.)

"They're the team to beat," Machado said of the Red Sox. "We've got Toronto and the Yankees in the mix. This whole division, everyone's our rival."

And in Boston, Machado is in the crosshairs, replacing A-Rod as the player Red Sox fans most love to loath.

ESPN.com Many Machado is the man Red Sox fans love to hate Scott Lauber

27 umpires and even a lecture from the commissioner, the Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles got back to merely playing baseball Thursday night at Fenway Park. And it was Machado, the slugger at the center of it all, who got the last word, launching a three-run homer over everything in left field to fuel an 8-3 victory and give the Orioles a split of the four-game series. A-Rod must have been proud.

It was a far calmer, cooler Machado than we saw for most of the week. Not that anyone needs a reminder of how this ugliness began, but Machado got it going April 21 in Baltimore with a spikes-high slide into Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia's surgically repaired left knee. Two days later, Boston reliever Matt Barnes tried to enact revenge by throwing a 90 mph pitch behind Machado's head. Machado received what amounted to an on-field apology from Pedroia -- "It's not me, it's them," the Red Sox de facto captain shouted from across the field -- and Barnes got a four-game suspension. Fast forward to this week. Machado was booed before every at-bat at Fenway, but that was nothing compared to the greeting he got Tuesday night from Red Sox ace Chris Sale, who whipped a 98 mph first-pitch fastball behind his knees in the first inning. That prompted an epic and totally not-suitable-for-work postgame rant from Machado, who dropped 12 F-bombs in about 90 seconds. He said he lost respect for the Red Sox and said he would use his bat to "crush somebody" who tried to hit him if it wouldn't get him "suspended for a year." Go ahead and watch it again online. Just cover your children's ears. Better yet, check out the home run Machado hit in the fourth inning Thursday night against Red Sox starter Kyle Kendrick to break a 3-3 tie. It was the third time Machado went deep in the series and was by far the longest, calculated at 456 feet, according to ESPN Home Run Tracker. It also had an exit velocity of 119.4 mph, which is downright A-Rodian. "I just feel like I'm getting back in the groove," Machado said. "It's been a month now that I've

28 struggled a little bit, but I'm finally, little by little, taking baby steps, feeling better at the plate, seeing the ball a little better, still making good contact with the ball."

(Want to bet the Yankees took notice? Machado is eligible for free agency after next season, after all.)

"They're the team to beat," Machado said of the Red Sox. "We've got Toronto and the Yankees in the mix. This whole division, everyone's our rival."

And in Boston, Machado is in the crosshairs, replacing A-Rod as the player Red Sox fans most love to loath.