Baker Growing With Indians

Baseball scouting for young talent these days goes well beyond scouting all the high school and college talent stateside for the Major League Baseball Draft. For the past few decades, scouring Latin America for talent has proven to be a success for many major league teams, and recently they have turned their attention to the Pacific Rim for talent in Asian countries as well as in Australia and other countries.

The Indians have recently dipped into the outback and plucked several players from Australia, most recently with infielder Jason Smit in 2006 and then pitcher Jacob Reust and outfielder Trent Baker in 2007. Reust was released earlier this year in spring training, and Smit played with short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley this season.

Baker opened the 2009 season in extended spring training, and after two years in the organization finally played his first official games as an Indian with the rookie-level Arizona League team this year where he hit .237 with 0 HR, 19 RBI, 13 stolen bases, and a .625 OPS in 50 games. He also got a late season callup to Low-A Lake County in the last week of August for a cup of coffee with them and hit .071 in 14 at bats.

After spending so much time at the Indians spring training complex the last two years for Instructional League, spring training, extended spring training, and rookie-level games, Baker was excited for the opportunity to finish out the season with Lake County and play in a more fan-oriented environment.

"It [was] good and I [was] excited," said Baker in a recent interview about his callup to Lake County. "Obviously it is a pat on the back after the work I have done in Arizona. It was hot there. Spring training, then extended spring training, and then the season, it wears you down a little bit and you just gotta keep battling through it.”

This was Baker's first full year in the organization. He had been with the Indians since signing in 2007, but spent only part of the 2008 season with the organization. He was in spring training and extended spring training last year, but about halfway through the year he went back home to try out for the Australian Team and broke his wrist. He was sidelined for the rest of the year, but did manage to come back for Instructional League last fall.

Baker’s numbers this season were not very good overall, though he did get off to a good start in the Arizona League. A month into the season he was hitting .300 with a .795 OPS through 23 games, but he seemed to wear down hitting just .183 (21-for-115) in his last 27 games.

"Yes, especially in extended spring training and through my first half of my season in the AZL I was doing good and felt good,” said Baker. “I just got tired toward the end and my average just started to drop out."

Baker’s best attributes are his speed and defense where he shows very good athleticism and range in the outfield along with good speed on the bases. His biggest area in need of improvement is obviously with his hitting. He is not a power hitter by any means, and needs to work on making more consistent contact at the plate and developing a more disciplined approach.

"At the plate my swing [late in the season] started to get long,” said Baker. “So I was told to keep my hands in tight toward my body and shorten my swing path to keep up with the faster pitching and be able to adapt to the offspeed stuff.”

With Baker’s two week vacation to Lake County now over, he is currently back in Goodyear, Arizona participating in the Fall Instructional League. So it is back to the Arizona desert and another month at the Indians spring training complex before his season officially ends in mid-October and he goes back home to Australia for some much needed time off.

Baker just turned 19 in June, so he is still growing and adapting to the game. The next two seasons will be huge for him as he matures with his body and as a baseball player. In the meantime, this offseason he plans to work on his hitting and hitting the weight room.

"I want to work on my speed for sure,” said Baker. “I will work with Peter Gahan, the Indians Australian scout who lives close to me. He works on my swing a lot and has been a big help. I also need to get bigger in the gym. I am pretty small and still young, and now that I am playing with some older guys I need to put some weight on me."

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