EVERETT — Steven Baron is a work in progress.
He knows it. The Everett AquaSox know it. And the Seattle Mariners know it.
Therefore, the Mariners are preaching patience when it comes to their prize young catcher.
No more so than to Baron himself.
Baron (at right), the highest-profile prospect on Everett’s roster, is still trying to find his way in minor-league baseball. But the Mariners are stressing the need for everyone to give Baron time to blossom, including Baron himself.
“He knows he can be a future major-league catcher and he wants to catch in the majors right now,” Everett manager Jose Moreno said. “He needs to understand it’s a long process to get there, a lot of work, but he’s starting to understand what he needs to do.”
Said Baron: “I kind of put pressure on myself when I don’t need to. I’m young and I’m here to get better. I shouldn’t worry about what people say, I just need to get better because I’m not playing to play in the big leagues next year, I’m playing to play in the big leagues four or five years from now.”
Baron is the one “name” prospect on an Everett team that’s dominating the Northwest League despite a lack of star power. The Miami native was selected 33rd overall in the 2009 amateur draft, the first player taken in the supplemental phase following the first round proper. His early pick status makes him the Sox player who generates the most interest among Mariner fans.
Baron is also young for the Northwest League. At 19 years old he’s the youngest player on Everett’s roster, and as of the weekend he was one of the 10 youngest position players in the league.
The Mariners envision a big future for Baron. When Baron was drafted out of John A. Ferguson High School he was hailed as a catcher with elite defensive tools. Those tools, combined with an athletic frame and a willingness to sign, prompted the Mariners to draft Baron a little higher than he was projected.
“He’s an extremely talented kid, both offensively and defensively,” Mariners director of minor league operations Pedro Grifol said. “The ball pops off his bat and he’s athletic with his swing, there’s a lot of things that indicate he’s going to be a good hitter. Defensively he has all the ability in the world. I think he’s a big-league catcher in the making, it’s just going to take time to get ready for that level.”
However, Baron has yet to perform like a first-round pick, at least on the offensive end. While Baron’s defensive abilities were lauded prior to being drafted, scouts had questions about his bat, and since joining professional baseball those offensive questions have remained. Heading into Sunday he was batting just .205 in 20 games. Before joining the Sox Baron played for Clinton of the mid single-A Midwest League, where he batted .182 in 45 games. Last season he hit .179 in 30 games for Pulaski of the rookie Appalachian League.
Some have their doubts about Baron’s long-term future. Jason Churchill of prospectinsider.com, a website dedicated to the Mariners’ minor-league system, expressed concerns about Baron’s potential.
“It’s a tough situation,” Churchill said. “There’s a lot of pressure on a kid when he’s drafted that high. He was projected to be taken in the third, fourth, fifth round, and a lot of people thought he was going to take that scholarship to Duke and that he needed that time. He has physical tools, but looking at his swing and the way he works his at-bats, it’s difficult to project a major-league career.”
The Mariners counter that Baron is a player who needs time to develop. Baron arrived as a raw prospect. He’s a good athlete who at 6 feet and 200 pounds projects great strength. But he doesn’t have much playing experience as during high school only played during the prep season and didn’t play during the summer.
Therefore, the Mariners are being patient with Baron, and hope the fans show patience as well.
“Very few guys coming into professional baseball have failed before to the point where they question their abilities,” Grifol said. “There’s a learning curve for dealing with adversity. In Baron’s case he’s never gone through this kind of failure before. That’s part of development, dealing with the mental side of the game, and he’s working on it.
“He’s a phenomenal kid with a great make-up. He’s got everything he needs to be a big-league catcher, it’s just going to take time.”
And Baron is beginning to understand the need to have patience with his own development.
“Probably the biggest issue is controlling my emotions,” Baron said. “I’m just trying to stay level-headed and not get too down on myself, which I do too much.
“It’s just discipline, controlling myself,” Baron added. “I still have my occasional temper tantrums in the dugout, but I think I’ve gotten a lot better with it from where I was a couple months ago. I’m getting better with it and trying to stay positive.”
Baron’s on a little hot streak at the plate, going 5-for-14 with a pair of doubles in his previous three games heading into Sunday. Perhaps it’s a sign of his bat beginning to come around. But regardless, it’s just the next step in what’s expected to be a long process for Baron.
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