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MINOR LEAGUE REPORT
Blanks has a big future – literally
By Tom Krasovic
STAFF WRITER
May 21, 2007
At 6 feet 6 and 280 pounds, Kyle Blanks may warrant a look from the Chargers if the Padres can't use him. Blanks, 20, is nearly as athletic as he is large, able to reach first base in 4.35 seconds, a shade slower than major league average.
“He moves well,” said Padres minor league field coordinator Bill Bryk.
Diverted by a leg injury last year, Blanks now is showing improved bat speed, in the estimation of Bryk.
Playing in 37 of advanced-Class A Lake Elsinore's first 44 games, the former 42nd-round draft pick has 37 RBI, nine home runs, 13 doubles and a .340 batting average. And he has stolen three bases in four attempts.
Notes
Mike Thompson, the “sixth” starter for the Padres last year, is 0-4 with a 14.04 ERA in 16 2/3 innings with Triple-A Portland. “He's trying to be too fine,” Bryk said.
A Future Games participant last year, middle infielder Luis Cruz is batting .168 with Portland and has made nine errors in 38 games. Said Bryk: “He's playing like he is on eggshells, tentative. It's just the opposite of last year.”
Lake Elsinore's 28-hit, 30-run performance at Lancaster on Friday overshadowed the 6 2/3 scoreless innings by Matt Buschmann, who flourished in one of the minors' best hitting venues. At Lancaster yesterday, the Storm had 21 runs and 22 hits.
Scouts expect Double-A catcher Nick Hundley to reach the majors, largely because of his right-handed bat and work ethic. It would be unfair, though, to expect Hundley to evolve into an athletic defender. Passed balls and throwing errors were a problem in the lower levels, and the 23-year-old had four passed balls and three errors in his first 31 games with San Antonio.
This summer, Matt Antonelli could head a wave of Elsinore players destined for Double-A. Fast and versatile, the club's first selection in the 2006 draft has proved a decent defender at second base, and his six hits Friday raised his combined on-base and slugging percentage over 1.000.
Tom Krasovic: (619) 293-2207; tom.krasovic@uniontrib.com
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