Jose Iglesias is yet another member of the Red Sox who looks improved from last season.
Jose Iglesias is known for his flashy glove-work, but this spring his bat is getting him noticed in Fort Myers .
The consensus among sports fans who aren't baseball fans is usually structured around the speed of the game, and the lack of constant movement by its participants.
Fans of sports such as basketball, hockey and soccer will quickly remind a baseball fan of the amount of constant movement and exertion those sports require. Football fans will of course mention the brutal physical punishment players must endure.
All of them are right, to an extent. Each sport presents its own set of challenges to those who wish to play it at a professional level.
So to all those who love to talk about how baseball is somehow a lesser sport than some of the other popular team sports, I give you the art of hitting a baseball.
How hard is hitting a baseball?
It is one of the most difficult things to do in all of sports. If you can hit with a 30 percent success rate over the course of your career, the odds are you will make the hall of fame. Rarely is a 30 percent success rate rewarded at such an elite level in any major team sport.
Michael Jordan couldn't be stopped on the basketball court, but put him in the batters box and he was barely a Double-A caliber hitter. Throughout baseball history there is a long, long list of successful minor league hitters who got to the majors and discovered that unfortunately they weren't good enough hitters to stick around in the big leagues.
When the 2012 season ended, it appeared that Jose Iglesias was in position to add his name to that list.
The 23-year old shortstop prospect had been on the radar of the Red Sox for several years. While rated a top 100 prospect by both Baseball America and MLB.com, his ability to field one of baseball's toughest positions has always been Iglesias' best asset. His ability to hit had been seen as a weakness, even in the minors.
Iglesias is a .264 career hitter in the minors. When he finally got his first taste of the majors last year he didn't even come close to that mark. Iglesias appeared in 25 games, got 68 at-bats and hit a paltry .118. It wasn't pretty, and it probably was one of the reasons the Red Sox decided to drop $9.5 million on a one-year contract for free agent Stephen Drew.
The 68 at-bat sample size was pretty small, but since Iglesias had not been a too impressive on offense in the minors, the Red Sox had a right to be concerned. Maybe Iglesias just wasn't cut out to hit major league pitching consistently?
Spring Training 2013 is underway, and one thing becoming apparent is that regardless of whether or not Iglesias starts the season as a backup to Drew in Boston, or as the starting shortstop for Triple-A Pawtucket, he appears to be a different hitter this spring.
Yes, it is another small sample size, but the numbers he's posted certainly deserve recognition. Seven games, 18 at-bats, a .333 batting average with three doubles, one home run and five RBI.
The simple fact is that Iglesias looks better at the plate this season. He's driving the ball. As Christopher Gasper of The Boston Globe reported on Monday, Iglesias spent part of the offseason getting hitting tips from Dustin Pedroia. The results have been a more upright batting stance, and improved patience at the plate.
When it comes to being a longterm fixture at shortstop for the Red Sox, it could be too little, too late for Iglesias. Drew is going to start in 2013, even if he leaves before the 2014 season starts, and top prospect Xander Bogaerts appears poised to be given an opportunity to take the position, possibly as early as next spring.
Where does that leave Iglesias?
It's an interesting question, because if other major league teams think Iglesias is now prepared to consistently hit major league pitching, he becomes a valuable trade chip.
Shortstops don't just grow on trees. No one knows better than Red Sox fans how difficult it can be to find someone who can field the position effectively and hit consistently. The Red Sox have been searching for a longterm shortstop solution since the day they traded Nomar Garciaparra back in the summer of 2004.
Maybe Iglesias gets dealt? Maybe he becomes the starting shortstop and Bogaerts is moved to a different position? It is too soon to say what will happen, but the Red Sox have to be very impressed with the progress Iglesias made over the winter. It's not easy to hit a baseball, and while it is too soon to say that Iglesias is destined to be a solid major league hitter, his improvement should be recognized.