LOCALS IN THE PROS: Belcher’s bat comes alive

BY TIM HAYES
Bristol Herald Courier Sports Writer
Published: June 15, 2008

When strolling through the clubhouse a few weeks ago, Greensboro Grasshoppers catcher Tyler Belcher picked up a copy of Baseball America. The former Virginia High standout flipped to the statistics portion of the magazine and found his name.

“The last edition I saw, I was hitting .091,” Belcher said.

Belcher has improved those numbers dramatically and is currently in the midst of a hitting tear. He went 2-for-4 and scored a run on Thursday in Greensboro’s 3-1 victory over the West Virginia Power and raised his batting average to .245.

“I just have that see it and hit it mentality right now,” Belcher said. “When the opportunities come, you have to make the most of it.”

In fact, Belcher is hitting .355 (11-for-31) in his last 10 games for Greensboro, a Florida Marlins farm team and a member of the Low-Class A South Atlantic League. Entering Saturday, he had a six-game hitting streak.

Belcher took on a new role earlier this season for Greensboro, spending some time at first base. It wasn’t a completely new concept to Belcher, as he played several infield positions during his four years at Old Dominion University.

“It wasn’t too big of a surprise,” Belcher said. “Our first baseman was on the disabled list and we had just released our utility guy. I took some groundballs and they threw me out there. I guess I did all right. It wasn’t that big of a difference to me.”

Lee Goes Deep
C.J. Lee went 3-for-5 and blasted his first home run of the season on Friday night for the Low-Class A Rome (Ga.) Braves in their 7-6 loss to the Columbus Catfish.
Lee connected for a solo shot in the first inning off Columbus starting pitcher Jeremy Hall. Ironically, both Lee and Hall played collegiately at East Tennessee State University.

Lee added a double and single and finished with four RBIs on Friday, raising his batting average to .250. The former Virginia High star also has 16 RBIs, eight stolen bases and has scored 14 runs for the Atlanta Braves’ farm team.

Hall lasted just three innings against Rome, yielding five runs on four hits in a no-decision. The former Daniel Boone High School and ETSU star is 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA in seven games (five starts) for Columbus, a Tampa Bay Rays affiliate.

D-B Grad Dominates
Carolina Mudcats closer Chris Mobley worked a perfect ninth inning in notching his eighth save in Carolina’s 5-3 Class AA victory over the Birmingham Barons on Friday night.

The former Dobyns-Bennett High School standout registered two strikeouts and ended the game by fanning former Bristol White Sox outfielder Stefan Gartrell.

Mobley is 3-1 with a 3.07 ERA in 25 games for Carolina. He appeared in five games earlier this season for Class AAA Albuquerque in the Florida Marlins’ minor league system.

Nick News
Left-handed pitcher Nick Hill (Sullivan East) is 1-6 with a 4.57 ERA for the High Desert Mavericks, the High-Class A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and a member of the California League.
Hill has appeared in 15 games, including 10 starts.

Barker’s Bat
Virginia High graduate Kevin Barker hit his 219th professional home run on Friday night for the Class AAA Louisville Bats in their 9-7 victory over the Pawtucket Red Sox.

Barker connected in the first inning off Pawtucket starting pitcher Devern Hansack for his eighth homer of the season. Of Barker’s 219 pro homers, 213 have come in the minor leagues. He hit six homers in the major leagues during stints with the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays.

The 32-year-old Barker is hitting .239 with 34 RBIs this season for Louisville, a Cincinnati Reds affiliate.

Allen Update
Former Sullivan Central High School and King College pitcher Eric Allen reported to the Chicago Cubs’ spring training facility in Mesa, Ariz. on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander recently signed a free agent deal with the Cubs and is currently taking part in extended spring training. Allen will likely pitch for Chicago’s Arizona League affiliate or could be destined for the short-season Boise Hawks of the Northwest League.

“It’s been a new experience, definitely,” Allen said. “It’s a life-long dream I’ve had and it’s good to see it come true.”

Allen had been playing the waiting game after King’s season had come to an end in early-May.

“I was throwing some and trying to stay in shape,” Allen said. “I was starting to prepare myself for life after baseball and then I got this opportunity.”

Big League Struggles
The two area players currently in the major leagues — Bristol’s Jimmy Gobble and Billy Wagner of Tazewell — endured rough stretches recently.
Gobble suffered two losses in the span of a week, getting charged with defeats against the Chicago White Sox (June 4) and Texas Rangers (June 11). The former John Battle High School star allowed a grand slam to the Rangers’ David Murphy on Wednesday.

“You go out there and there’s a job to do and I feel like I’m pretty good at doing that job,” Gobble told the Sports Network. “I didn’t. You try to keep everything in perspective, but tonight was a tough loss.”

Gobble is 0-2 with one save and a 8.10 ERA in 24 relief outings for Kansas City.

Meanwhile, Wagner blew three straight saves, coughing up leads against the San Diego Padres (June 8) and Arizona Diamondbacks (June 11 and 12).
Wagner is 0-1 with 13 saves and a 2.33 ERA in 26 outings this season. He has five blown saves to his credit.
“I’m just awful,” Wagner told the New York Daily News after Thursday’s debacle. “It’s not the team right now, it’s all on me. I can’t get it done right now.”

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