lynseyskye
07-13-2007, 03:22 PM
APPY NOTEBOOK Bluefield duo taking League by storm
By Rick Sheek
Star Staff
rsheek@starhq.com
JOHNSON CITY -- Bluefield's Matthew Tucker and Kraig Binick have taken the Appalachian League by storm.
Alex Arias, manager of the Orioles, doesn't expect them to be around till season's end. They're swinging hot bats and primed to move up the Baltimore organization's ladder.
Tucker, a third baseman from Dallas Baptist University, is hitting .431 with a league-leading 21 RBIs after going 1 for 3 and driving in two runs in Monday night's 11-9 victory over Johnson City at Cardinal Park.
"He knows how to play the game,"Arias said. "He does all of the little things right, a fundamental part of the game which is the most important part. And then everything else is going to take care of itself."
Binick leads the league with a .437 average and has driven in 17 runs. The center fielder, from the New York Institute of Technology, batted 2 for 3 with three RBIs against the Cardinals and coming in Monday night was tied for the league home run lead with four.
"He's a good player, too," said Arias, who played 11 years in the major leagues and was a member of the 1997 World Series champion Florida Marlins. "He's probably one of our most consistent hitters so far this year. He can run, he can hit for power, he can throw and he can steal bases.
"He's a solid guy to have on your team. He's another guy that has a good chance to go up this year."
Tucker ripped his eighth double of the season, plating a runner, and tagged a sacrifice fly when Bluefield surged to a 9-0 advantage in the first inning.
"I'm just trying to see the ball and get some good swings off," Tucker, 24, said. "It's a tough game, but I'm just trying to get good swings and see what happens."
Tucker was actually leading the Appy in batting coming in Monday night, before Binick climbed ahead from the third spot.
"I didn't know what to expect coming into professional baseball," Binick, 22, said. "I just took everything as serious as I could. There's batting practice, fly balls and I've been getting my pitches. I've just been taking advantage of it."
Tucker (6-2, 185) has legged out three triples for the Orioles. He explained he picked up a simple philosophy back in his hometown, the big D.
"It's a good feeling to be up there with all the good hitters," Tucker said. "Like my college coach told me, just take one bat at a time, get good swings and you can't control where the ball goes."
Arias points out that it is not that unusual to begin a player Tucker's age in the rookie leagues.
"He probably could play in a higher league right now, but it's his first year so they want to see what he's got," Arias said. "This is a great place to start for him, then hopefully within another month or so he could be up in A ball somewhere."
Binick (5-10, 180) has tagged three doubles and three triples. He insist he is in awe of sitting atop the league in batting.
"I wasn't expecting it," Binick said. "It's an honor, right now. Hopefully I can continue to keep it up, do well and stay up there. For now, I'm going to take every at-bat and make the most of it."
The manager stressed Binick has been a pleasant surprise.
"He wasn't supposed to be a regular player," Arias said. "He came out, did his job, we had some injuries, and he took advantage of his opportunity. Right now he's probably one of our top players here this season in the draft."
By Rick Sheek
Star Staff
rsheek@starhq.com
JOHNSON CITY -- Bluefield's Matthew Tucker and Kraig Binick have taken the Appalachian League by storm.
Alex Arias, manager of the Orioles, doesn't expect them to be around till season's end. They're swinging hot bats and primed to move up the Baltimore organization's ladder.
Tucker, a third baseman from Dallas Baptist University, is hitting .431 with a league-leading 21 RBIs after going 1 for 3 and driving in two runs in Monday night's 11-9 victory over Johnson City at Cardinal Park.
"He knows how to play the game,"Arias said. "He does all of the little things right, a fundamental part of the game which is the most important part. And then everything else is going to take care of itself."
Binick leads the league with a .437 average and has driven in 17 runs. The center fielder, from the New York Institute of Technology, batted 2 for 3 with three RBIs against the Cardinals and coming in Monday night was tied for the league home run lead with four.
"He's a good player, too," said Arias, who played 11 years in the major leagues and was a member of the 1997 World Series champion Florida Marlins. "He's probably one of our most consistent hitters so far this year. He can run, he can hit for power, he can throw and he can steal bases.
"He's a solid guy to have on your team. He's another guy that has a good chance to go up this year."
Tucker ripped his eighth double of the season, plating a runner, and tagged a sacrifice fly when Bluefield surged to a 9-0 advantage in the first inning.
"I'm just trying to see the ball and get some good swings off," Tucker, 24, said. "It's a tough game, but I'm just trying to get good swings and see what happens."
Tucker was actually leading the Appy in batting coming in Monday night, before Binick climbed ahead from the third spot.
"I didn't know what to expect coming into professional baseball," Binick, 22, said. "I just took everything as serious as I could. There's batting practice, fly balls and I've been getting my pitches. I've just been taking advantage of it."
Tucker (6-2, 185) has legged out three triples for the Orioles. He explained he picked up a simple philosophy back in his hometown, the big D.
"It's a good feeling to be up there with all the good hitters," Tucker said. "Like my college coach told me, just take one bat at a time, get good swings and you can't control where the ball goes."
Arias points out that it is not that unusual to begin a player Tucker's age in the rookie leagues.
"He probably could play in a higher league right now, but it's his first year so they want to see what he's got," Arias said. "This is a great place to start for him, then hopefully within another month or so he could be up in A ball somewhere."
Binick (5-10, 180) has tagged three doubles and three triples. He insist he is in awe of sitting atop the league in batting.
"I wasn't expecting it," Binick said. "It's an honor, right now. Hopefully I can continue to keep it up, do well and stay up there. For now, I'm going to take every at-bat and make the most of it."
The manager stressed Binick has been a pleasant surprise.
"He wasn't supposed to be a regular player," Arias said. "He came out, did his job, we had some injuries, and he took advantage of his opportunity. Right now he's probably one of our top players here this season in the draft."