For most of the baseball season, the sad-sack San Diego Padres haven't had much to play for.
The same can most definitely not be said about their new second baseman, Matt Antonelli.
Called up to the big leagues for the first time two weeks ago today, Antonelli is hoping to use the rest of this month to show the Padres brass that he belongs on their big league roster in 2009 — hopefully as their starting second baseman.
"I'm trying to win a job for next year," said the 23-year-old West Peabody native. "I obviously want to do as well as I can for the team while I'm here, but I also want to show everyone what I can do and be ready to go for next season."
Antonelli had the best game of his young career last night in Colorado against the Rockies. The highlight was his first big league homer, a two-run shot off Rockies' righty reliever Jason Hirsh over the left field fence at Coors Field. He finished the night 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two ribbies in the Padres' 11-5 win.
Through 13 games, Antonelli is batting .235 (8-for-34) with four runs scored, a double and three RBIs. He also singled in his first at-bat in the majors, lacing a shot off of future Hall of Famer (and 350-game winner) Greg Maddux of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"The experience of being here is the big thing," said Antonelli of his time thus far in the bigs. "I feel a lot different now than my first few games here. Playing in front of a few thousand fans in the minors to 45,000 at Dodger Stadium takes some getting used to, but I'm more comfortable now — and I'll be even more comfortable next season.
The Padres are hoping their top draft pick of 2006 can finish up strong and win the second base job outright next spring. The position has been a quagmire of sorts for San Diego the last few seasons, with high priced busts such as Marcus Giles, Todd Walker and, most recently, Tadihito Iguchi (who was cut when Antonelli was promoted from Triple A) failed to provide the defensive spark and offensive pop the team has been looking for.
"We're hoping Matt Antonelli can be that guy," Padres general manager Kevin Towers said upon promoting him to the big leagues.
The wonder of Wooten
To say this season has been a bizarre one for Antonelli would be one of life's great understatments.
The 6-foot, 198-pounder endured a baffling season at the plate with the Triple-A Portland Beavers, struggling to get above the .200 mark for much of the season. He managed to do so with a strong August, batting .290 to raise his overall mark to .215. But the reason he found himself in that predicament in the first place is still a bit of a mystery to Antonelli.
"I don't know how it happened; I just got into these really bad habits I had never done before," Antonelli said. "That's how the season started — slow. I went a month or so where I was struggling, and I thought 'Maybe I'm just starting slow.' But then I talked to people who said I wasn't doing the things I normally did, that my stance was different and all."
The previous year, Antonelli had mashed Single and Double-A pitching to the tune of a combined .307 average with 123 runs scored, 21 home runs and 78 RBIs in 131 games. Now, it seemed like everyone that knew him was calling to ask what was wrong.
Ironically, Antonelli said he was seeing the ball fine out of the pitcher's hand; he just wasn't putting his bat on the ball with the same authority as he was used to. He did extra work in the batting cages, would work on his swing in hotel rooms, watched countless hours of video of himself hitting and tried to stay positive despite not being able to raise his average.
But the baseball gods were looking out for Antonelli. They had him room with Shawn Wooten, a 37-year-old former big leaguer who won a World Series with the Anaheim Angels in 2002.
Fate intervened between the two this summer.
"I owe Shawn as much as anyone for helping me out," said Antonelli. "We'd watch videotape of me hitting together each night, sometimes for 2-3 hours. We'd talk about what I was doing right and wrong, and he was always telling me things were going to turn around for me. I don't know how many guys would have done that.
"We played together last year in Double-A (San Antonio), and he saw me when I was at my best, hitting .430 my first month at that level. Now he was seeing me at my worst (offensively), and I think it was bothering him a bit. So I took his advice and went out there and started to hit, not think."
When the former St. John's Prep and Wake Forest star turned it around in August, hitting with authority and blasting four of his seven homers that month, Wooten was thrilled for him. "I think Shawn got more excited when I started hitting than I did," said Antonelli.
Finishing up strong
Since he was called up to San Diego, the Padres have spoken to Antonelli about trying to get ready for next season, and what they expect of him.
They've changed his batting stance a bit, working on small things that they feel will help make him a better major league hitter down the road. He's also getting an education on how to play the game at the highest level every day, and being around teammates — many of whom he already knew from his time with the Padres in spring training — who are supportive of him.
The Padres (58-93) are in the midst of a nine-game road trip that will take them from Colorado to Washington D.C. and back to Los Angeles before they end the season at home with a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Antonelli plans on doing whatever he can whenever his name is penciled into the lineup.
"I didn't want to go home where I didn't do anything the whole year. I had to do something good at the end of the year, so I just kept grinding it out, and things eventually worked out (in Portland)," he said. "Now I've got this chance (in San Diego), I want to make the most of it and get ready for next season, too."
