Justin Smoak: Mariners' mellow masher - 美國職棒

網址:http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/07/15/1264419/mellow-but-a-masher.html

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Heralded rookie: The Mariners are sure low-key first baseman Justin Smoak

and his big bat are destined for success, and that’s just fine with him

水兵深信低調的smoak和他的大棒註定會成功


If Justin Smoak feels any pressure to perform, he won't show it.

If he feels any anxiety about being the most celebrated player of those sent

by the Texas Rangers to Seattle in the trade for Cliff Lee, you won't see it.

If he's having the worst game of his career, or the best, it would be

difficult to tell.

Suffice to say, if you are trying to get a read on Justin Smoak's emotions,

good luck.

他是一個不輕易表達情感的傢伙


It's not that Smoak is some sort of cold, emotionless, baseball-playing

robot. Instead, he's a laid-back, cool customer with a massive amount of

natural talent who never gets too high or too low.

He brings a level day-to-day attitude that he hopes leads to consistent

day-to-day success in the major leagues.

It's something that the Mariners hope for as well.

這不是因為他冷酷,而是因為他試著維持穩定的情緒及實力,這也是水兵所希望的


After all, according to general manager Jack Zduriencik, Smoak was the one

player the Mariners wanted from the time they first considered trading Lee

to the Rangers. And it was the addition of Smoak to the offer that sealed the

decision to send Lee to Texas and not the New York Yankees.

"Once they included Justin we pulled the trigger," Zduriencik said. "We'd

pinpointed a number of players we wanted for Cliff, and Smoak was one of

them."

他一直在水兵的口袋名單,因為有了他,水兵停止和洋基的交易


What makes Smoak so coveted? There's not much in his major league numbers to

answer that.

Smoak was called up to the Rangers from Triple-A Oklahoma City in late April,

and played in 27 games before the trade. He hit .209 (49-for-235) with 10

doubles, eight homers and 34 RBI.

Hardly eye-popping statistics.

他現在的成積,實在是很難看.


But,there's a need to look beyond those stats to different numbers.

Realistically, this is his second season of professional baseball. After being

selected with with the 11th overall pick of the 2008 draft by Texas, Smoak played

in just 14 minor league games that season, and later a handful of games

in the Arizona Fall League.

In 2009, he played 106 games between Double A and Triple A sandwiched around

an oblique injury in June that sidelined him for three weeks.

This year, he played in 15 games with Oklahoma City before being called up

to replace a struggling Chris Davis at first base.

Smoak had a total of 599 minor league plate appearances in 135 games. By

comparison, hard-hitting Atlanta Braves outfielder Jason Heyward - the 14th

pick in the 2007 draft - had three years of seasoning that included 238 minor

league games and 1,003 plate appearances before jumping to the big leagues

in 2010.

可是和Heyward 比一下,人家在小聯盟打了1,003個打席才上來,而smoak打了599個打席

就上來了


"You see with most guys the adjustments through levels in the minor leagues,"

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "And the biggest jump and the biggest

adjustment is to the big leagues."

And Smoak's numbers are a product of that adjustment. He hasn't been awful,and

he hasn't been good. But there are reminders of what he can be. As with most

rookies,the struggle is to find consistency.

對球員而言,最大的挑戰是在大聯盟,而smoak也不例外,他仍在奮鬥中


"I'm just trying to slow the game down," Smoak said. "You feel good at times

and the game's going real slow. But when you start trying to do too much,

it catches back up with you. You just try to find a way to stay consistent.

I'vehad some ups and I've had some downs. You've got to even that out. Right

now, that's one thing I'm trying to do." Observers who get paid to know believe

Smoak will slow the game down. And part of his ticket to success will be his

mellow personality.

'我試著把節奏慢下來',smoak說,'我試著找到正確的方法'

評論家相信smoak會成功,因為他有老練的人格特質


"He's pretty quiet," said Tacoma Rainiers manager Daren Brown, who managed

Smoak in the Arizona Fall League. "He doesn't say much. He just goes about

his business."

'他非常安靜'Tacoma經理回憶smoak'他不太講話,他只注意他的工作'


Mariners catcher Rob Johnson saw the same thing when he played with Smoak in

the Fall League.

"He's pretty even-keeled," Johnson said. "Nothing seems to get to him."

Johnson pointed to Smoak's approach at the plate and his ability to forget

at-bats immediately.

"He just doesn't think about it," Johnson said. "That's so important to go up

there and not get caught up thinking and just letting your swing do the work.

He just never seemed to let his previous at-bats affect (his next) at-bat."

補手Rob回憶smoak也是這樣說:'沒有事情能干擾他,他能立刻忘掉上個打席的結果,

不讓之前打擊影響下一個打擊'


Brown labeled it a "very mature" approach.

"He's got great rhythm at the plate," Wakamatsu said. "He doesn't need to

think too much. If he stays aggressive, he's going to do some damage."

'這是一個非常成熟的心態',Tacoma經理說
'他有非常好的打擊節奏,他根本不需要想太多,只要維持穩定,他就能造成傷害'
水兵總教練說


Physically and talent-wise, Smoak has drawn countless comparison to New York

Yankees All-Star first baseman Mark Teixeira.Both starred in college-Teixeira

at Georgia Tech, Smoak at South Carolina. Both switch-hit with power. Both are

on defense, and both got their start with the Rangers.

Wakamatsu was a bench coach with the Rangers in 2003 when Teixeira was a rookie

after two years in the minors. Teixeira hit .259 with 26 homers and 84 RBI that

season,but was hitting under .200 until May. Wakamatsu likens Smoak's current

inconsistencies to Teixeira's 2003 early struggles and is trying to temper

excessive expectations.

Smoak常被人拿來和Teixeira比較,以前待過遊騎兵及帶過Teixeira的Wakamatsu認為

smoak現在的狀況,就和Teixeira當年一開始相似


But Smoak doesn't mind the comparison.

"It's a good thing," Smoak said. "(Teixeira is) a great player. He's achieved

a lot as a big league first baseman, hopefully I will do the same."

Smoak不介意這種比較,而且smoak希望自己也能做得和Teixeira一樣


Zduriencik believes Smoak is equipped to succeed.

"If this guy is what we think he is, he'll be a cornerstone of this franchise

going forward,"Zduriencik said. "We think he's a quality player with a great

approach at the plate. He's big and lanky and has a great swing from both sides

of the plate. We think he's going to settle in and be a really good big-league player."

Z老大認為:smoak有能力成為好的大聯盟選手,因為smoak具備種種條件


For Smoak, it's just a matter of finding consistency by keeping that steady

approach and constant attitude.

"I know I can hit," Smoak said. "I know I can play defense.

I know I can play at this level.When you slow it down,

it makes it easy. When you speed the game up, it gets hard."

'我知道我能打','我知道我能守','我知道我能待在這'smoak說

'當一切在掌握中時,這很容易,但一切跑掉時,就很難'

對smoak來說,他必須找到方法去保持穩定~~~


謝謝大家閱讀~~~

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