Chris Malec has emerged on the Eastern League stage in the past few weeks, by doing the little things. Something he actually feels he needs some work on.
But the Trenton Thunder INF knows that aggression has to be used in a smart way on the baseball field.
"I do the opposite of giving away at bats," he said in the dugout before a game. "I push too hard and try to do too much. I'll try to drive the ball, and so I'm learning to just try and put the ball in play and be productive, without driving it."
He started off the season at Trenton, but was reassigned back to Trenton from the Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees, Malec is hitting .282 with 42 RBI.
2009 marks his fourth year of pro-ball and the 26 year old knows what he has to do to be successful.
"You want to have a good plan when you go in there," he said.
For all the personal success he's been having lately, the team has suffered several key injuries and a blow to the morale. Especially considering he's been part of the back-to-back championship seasons (2007-08) with the Thunder. But learning how to overcome those obstacles is all part of playing and learning the game.
"Whatever happens, we have to do our best and not worry about that. It's important to us to win. We need to just play our game."
Earlier in the week, I'd asked manager Tony Franklin if perhaps his players feel more pressure because they're playing in the Yankees minor league system.
"I hope not. But at the same time, they should feel proud of it."
Malec agrees with Franklin's attitude toward the meaning of possibly playing at Yankee Stadium.
"I don't think about that all the time, but yeah, it's the Yankees and I feel a responsibility to that legacy. They're a class organization and I want to uphold their image."
NOTES: Malec was drafted by Yankees in the 16th round in 2005...He was born in Laguna Niguel, California...He grew up a Boston Red Sox fan.