ANAHEIM — Scott Brosius took a bad swing in batting practice and everything changed for the Yankees. Now. And well into this new millennium.
Brosius strained his ribcage Tuesday and is on the DL for at least two weeks, but probably at least twice that. This injury heals slowly. What moves quickly is the future. It landed in southern California and was in a Yankee uniform for last night’s game against the Angels.
Alfonso Soriano, not just one of the Yankees’ top prospects but one of the majors’ elite, has gained an early-season opportunity to change the configuration of the Yankees. This season. And beyond.
“It is an intriguing notion that he will get a chance to play,” said David Cone, who started last night. “We are going to find out if he is the real deal or not.”
Soriano did not start last night, Joe Torre opting not to rush the shortstop from a cross-country flight into a new position. He may not start tomorrow because Andy Pettitte’s cutter usually means a big workload at third. But sometime this weekend in Seattle, Soriano will begin life at the hot corner and on the hot seat.
The future will be now. He will be asked to justify rampant talk about his five-tool abilities while helping these Yankees stay the best. He will have to impress without pressing or falling prey to his press clippings. Show that he is more Derek Jeter than Ruben Rivera, that the advanced word was deserved, not deceptive.
“We’re going to find out,” said first-base coach Lee Mazzilli, who managed Soriano at Double-A last year. “If last season was any indication, he’s ready.”
All that is riding on Soriano is substantial pieces of this season and the ones that follow. If Soriano is a bust, he hurts the team by not playing well, but also by not building his reputation so that he could be traded later in the year in case a pitcher or big bat is needed. If Soriano succeeds, he obviously helps this team and provides many long-term options, including playing third base or second base at a cheaper price than Brosius or Chuck Knoblauch.
Obviously, an attempt will be made to reduce anxiety for Soriano. He will bat ninth. He will be fathered by Torre and nurtured by the nucleus of the roster. Jeter, who was Alfonso Soriano not long ago, will counsel that this is the same game as in the minors, just with bigger crowds.
And yet after all of that is said, Soriano must play well enough to make this more than a major-league pitstop. He may hit ninth, but that still means at least three at-bats a game. The veterans will protect him, but no one can help when the ball is hit to third. And there is no mulligan given to Yankee expectations internally or externally just because an important piece of their mosaic is disabled. The Yanks must keep winning.
“We don’t need him to come up and learn,” Tino Martinez said. “We need him to come up and perform.”
Jeter would be the role model here. He had a major-league sample in 1995 at age 20, took over as the full-time shortstop in 1996 and was immediately a star. Soriano had nine major-league at-bats last September at age 21, his lone hit a game-winning homer off Tampa’s Norm Charlton. At 22, he is back. But is it for good?
“We all want to see what he can do,” Cone said.
The best-case scenario plays out like this: He handles third smoothly. He is from the cradle of shortstops, San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican, and has been hesitant about moving even with Jeter blocking his way. But here his tremendous athleticism enables him to play third. He bats ninth and brings speed in front of Nos. 1 and 2 hitters Knoblauch and Jeter, compelling more fastballs to them. Soriano’s bat is his least-questioned tool.
The Yanks did not trade Soriano this spring when there was an impulse to get a proven bat such as Jim Edmonds. Now, maybe, Soriano is that bat. When Brosius returns, Soriano could be shifted to left field or DH.
Also, the Yanks, who are budget conscious, could look to a 2001 where they use Soriano at third and trade Brosius or shift Soriano to second and deal Knoblauch, though he has a no-trade provision. Or Soriano can be traded.
The worst-case scenario plays out like this: Soriano fields as poorly as he did this spring, his concentration lapses showing even more at a reaction position such as third. He fails to adapt to major-league breaking stuff, leaving hollow at-bats at the bottom of the order. His value to both the Yankees and in trades falls precipitously. Welcome to the future.