Anticipation builds for Young

03/04/2006
ST. PETERSBURG -- When Delmon Young hits, people watch. And when the Rays' top prospect talks, people listen.
Carl Crawford is a "grizzled" Rays veteran after 3 1/2 Major League seasons and is a big fan of Young, the Rays' 20-year-old superstar in the making.
"You sit down and talk to him about hitting, and you'll be amazed," Crawford said. "His mental [approach] is what separates him from anybody his age. His IQ of baseball is at another level for a kid his age."
Crawford and Young both worked out at Athletes' Performance Institute in Arizona during the offseason, where Crawford solicited advice on hitting from the youngster. The Rays' left fielder is pulling for Young and said he hopes Young can "stay level-headed a little bit."
"You know what I'm saying around [the media] and around the clubhouse, too, with guys that have been around, kind of have respect for the players that have been here," Crawford said. "We understand he grew up in the clubhouse [as the young brother of veteran Major Leaguer Dmitri], but we just hope he stays on that level to where other guys don't think he's getting ahead of himself."
Young is generally regarded as the best offensive player in the Minor Leagues. His numbers were off the charts in 2005. He began the season at Double-A Montgomery where he hit .336 with 20 home runs and 71 RBIs in 84 games; he finished at Triple-A Durham where he hit .285 with six home runs and 28 RBIs in 52 games. Baseball America named him the Minor League Player of the Year.
Normally, Young makes the game of baseball look easy. But he did have to adjust when he made the jump to Triple-A.
"They all throw strikes," said Young, noting he doesn't walk much -- just 33 walks at Durham. "There's a little difference of throwing the ball around the plate. You just have to get adjusted to waiting for a better pitch."
Asked if getting more selective is an area he needs to improve on, the confident Young replied: "Not really. Vladimir [Guerrero] has a nice career without doing it. It would be something to improve on."
Young smiled when asked if he thought he could play in the Major Leagues now.
"I thought I could play at 18 [in the Majors]," Young said. "You've got your doubts. You want to play well. You don't want to go up there and struggle. That's the doubts every player has, even guys who are still in the big leagues.
Given the development that Aubrey Huff might play third base, the prospect of having an outfield of Carl Crawford in left, Rocco Baldelli in center, and Young in right looks almost too good to be true for Rays fans -- and is at least possible.
"I love everything he does," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "He is everything they said he is."
And his power?
"I don't even have to see stuff like that," Maddon said. "I stand by the cage and I watch how somebody uses their hands. And when you get a big person who uses his hands well, they normally have pretty good power. And he's a big guy and uses his hands really well."
Young looks more muscular than he did a year ago when he reported.
"Same offseason workout [he's had] the last couple of years," Young said. "Just ate more to get bigger. Other years I had to cut calories to get smaller. This year, I wanted to put on a little bit of weight."
Young stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 221 pounds.
"Anything above 205 is good for me," Young said. "It depends on where I eat. If I go eat McDonald's, I usually gain weight. If I eat healthy and watch what I eat, I could maintain or drop weight. More muscle mass."
More muscle mass, another year older, and, according to Crawford, wise beyond his years, Young is close, if not ready to be in the Major Leagues. Can Young make the team out of Spring Training?
"I don't know that," Maddon said. "I have to see the games. And I rely a lot on what people have told me, too. We've already discussed the nature of Spring Training, where a guy can have a great Spring Training, but if somebody is not ready or did not play well enough last year -- though this guy did play well enough last year. So I'm going to rely on other information on this one, too."
"Anything can happen," Young said. "You know. I don't make decisions around here. We'll just have to wait until April to see how everything works out."

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/