Things going well for Frederick’s Wieters

Matt Wieters called his three years at Georgia Tech the best of his life to this point.

They were good to him, that’s for sure. He was a two-time first team All-American there and he even met his fiancée while in school.

So where does his first professional baseball season rank so far?

“This is up there,” said Wieters, who leads the Frederick Keys in the Triple Crown categories this season. “But we’ve got a lot of year left. There’s going to be some ups and downs but all you can do is live one year at a time.”

That’s a fine attitude, but it downplays what he’s done a bit. Wieters, Baltimore’s top pick in last spring’s draft, is the No. 1 prospect in the Orioles organization and he is already making strong impressions throughout it.

Heading into the Keys’ Saturday game at Potomac he leads the team in average with a .338 mark, home runs with five and RBI with 18. He’s second in average and tied for first in homers among Carolina League players. He’s also slugging .575 to go with a .411 on-base percentage.

Terrific numbers for any first-year player but what has impressed teammates, coaches and the organization alike is the rest of his game.

Blake Wood, Kansas City’s No. 5 prospect and a pitcher with Wilmington, played with Wieters for two years in the Black and Gold.

“He’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with,” Wood said. “He’s going to be a big leaguer in a short time. He’s a great player — whatever he does, it’s not really a surprise to me.”

Baseball America lists Wieters as the best athlete, best pure hitter and top defensive player among Oriole prospects.

He has already drawn comparisons to Atlanta’s Mark Teixeira and Boston’s Jason Varitek, both switch-hitters (like Wieters) and former Georgia Tech players. Wieters shrugs it off as just talk, but Frederick manager Tommy Thompson sees something in it.

Thompson was a catching instructor for 18 years with the Chicago White Sox before becoming a manager and scouted Varitek while the catcher was with the Yellow Jackets.

“(Varitek) was very impressive,” Thompson said. “I think his leadership, what he brings back there behind the plate is something special at the major league level.
“I think Matt’s that same type of guy.”

Thompson adds that he believes Wieters will hit for a better average and power than Varitek, a career .267 hitter with 151 homers.

Wieters is already showing strong leadership qualities on a team with players that have been pros for as many as three years. He’s not afraid to take control of the team and give players instructions.

“Like the point guard, the quarterback, he’s the player-coach on the field,” Thompson said. “The players listen to coaches, but some of the best teams I’ve ever played on the players coached themselves. He’s got the right answers and they respect that.”

Thompson gave Wieters the keys to the team in spring training, allowing the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Goose Creek, S.C. native to call pitches and set the infield defense himself.

“He’s learning how to call a game,” the manager said. “In college he was programmed being told what pitch to throw and when but not really explained to why. I’m basically giving him the game, but he’s a helluva leader.”

Wieters missed the end of the 2007 minor league season when he signed just prior to the Aug. 15 deadline (he received a record-$6 million signing bonus), but he joined the Hawaii League, an experience he found quite valuable in that he got to meet some of his future Frederick teammates and begin bonding.

Wieters’ dad, Richard, was a minor league pitcher for the Braves and White Sox organizations from 1977-82 and often told his son of life in professional baseball.

“He always made the stories a little tougher than it might have been,” Wieters said. “The biggest way he prepared me was he said he played 141 games in 142 days. So we get a few more off days.”

All joking aside, Wieters said his dad was the reason he became a switch-hitter, learning to bat from both sides of the plate at an early age.

Wieters also was a pitcher while in high school and was Georgia Tech’s closer and though he misses being on the mound in pressure situations, being behind the plate offers plenty of opportunities.

“You miss the adrenaline rush of getting up on the mound,” he said. “But at the same time I like hitting everyday, I like being behind the plate so it was something I was willing to give up to play everyday.”

Frederick’s pitching staff is certainly glad Wieters traded the mound to don the tools of ignorance.

“He calls a really good game,” Keys’ starter Brandon Erbe said. “He’s caught five of my six starts and I think I’ve shaken him off once. (You have) a little more confidence when he’s back there with whatever the gameplan is. He makes it a lot easier.”

It helps when you know that’s the same guy that will likely get a hit or two and drive in runs offensively, too.

And if Wieters continues the development he’s already shown he can start counting 2008 and beyond among his favorite years.