By Ed McGranahan
TCI brings you the latest on three former Tigers, Paulsen, Parker and Miller.
BEN PAULSEN
While Kyle Parker remains a key component in the Colorado Rockies’ plans for the future, another former Clemson player has asserted himself this season, vying for attention.
First baseman Ben Paulsen has been one of the most productive players for the Class AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Paulsen has hit .306 through the first 48 games and is tied with a team-high 7 home runs. His 27 RBI and 14 doubles are second to Parker’s 28 and 15.
A third-round pick in 2009, Paulsen’s progress through the Rockies’ system has been methodical, and at age 26 he’s at a tenuous point on the prospect curve. He spent two years at Class AA and this is his second season in Colorado Springs.
Known for his ability to make contact, Paulsen hasn’t hit for power at the rate that commands attention and forces a corner infielder into the big leagues. His high was 19 home runs in 2011 his first year at Tulsa, but that was accompanied by a .241 batting average, his lowest in four full seasons.
Whether it was the Colorado air or a step in maturity, last season he hit .292 with 18 home runs, 32 doubles and 10 triples. His 60 extra base hits led the Pacific Coast League and his .532 slugging percentage was sixth, and two of the five ahead of his are in the big leagues.
This year he lowered his strikeout rate and raised his on-base percentage to career best .383. During one stretch this season Paulsen
had a 14 game hitting streak, and Friday he hit two homers followed Saturday by a walk-off, two-run homer in the 12th inning.
“There’s no park in this league that can hold him,” said Sky Sox hitting coach Dave Hajek in a story published by the Colorado Springs
Gazette. “He hits the ball to the opposite field as hard as anyone we have.”
Curiously, much of the speculation around Parker has been about an eventual fulltime move from the outfield to first base. In fact he’s
played first with Paulsen moving to DH several games this first season as pro teammates.
Stay tuned.
BRAD MILLER
After an enticing start to his big league career last season, Brad Miller won the starting job at shortstop this season for the Seattle
Mariners, but it’s been rough going the second month.
In 76 games last year he hit .265 with seven errors. Entering tonight’s game, he’s at .154 in 41 games and leads the team in errors with eight. Were it not for an absence of depth at middle infield in the Seattle organization, Miller would probably be back in the minors trying to work out of his funk.
According to several reporters covering the Mariners, he has lost contact with the strike zone, frequently swinging at bad pitches, and
the mental burden seems to be carrying to the field. It’s reminiscent of a season at Clemson when his fielding was abysmal so Jack Leggett pulled him off the field and allowed Miller to serve as a designated hitter until he cleared his head.
One stats geek for CBS.com suggested that Miller had hit rock bottom, pointing out that the .409 on-base percentage in the minors was
indicative of his skill. Miller has tried to present an optimistic front, and it rings familiar to those who covered him at Clemson.
“Baseball is such a feel game, and its right there,” he said in an interview several days ago with The Olympian. “I always feel like I’m
right there, nothing crazy.”
TYLER COLVIN
After the signature walk-off, grand-slam home run at Clemson, the future seemed magnificent for Tyler Colvin. A first-round draft pick by the Chicago Cubs in 2006, he finds himself with third organization this season, playing primarily in left field for the San Francisco Giants.
Since being promoted by Chicago during 2009 season, Colvin has hit .242 with 48 home runs in 397 games. His best seasons were 2010 in Chicago and 2012 after being traded to Colorado. Recurring back issues last season pushed relegated him to AAA, and Colorado released Colvin in October.
When a deal with Baltimore failed to coagulate he signed with San Francisco and began the year at AAA Fresno. Colvin was recalled May 10 when first baseman Brandon Belt was injured, necessitating left fielder Mike Morse move to the infield.
In a game with the Braves shortly after his promotion Colvin had a home run, triple and three RBI, and through 13 games he’s hitting .289. The home run into San Francisco’s “McCovey Cove” was his first hit.
“Not everyone’s path is just right there, an easy path,” he told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle last week. “I think everyone has ups and downs. It’s how you deal with them. I’ve definitely had some ups and downs. I’ve had some unfortunate things happen, but you learn from it all.”