Obstacles can't slow down Riggans

02/27/2006
ST. PETERSBURG -- Shawn Riggans has made it clear that nothing is going to hold him back.
Not his arm -- a nagging elbow injury in his throwing arm cost the Devil Rays' top catching prospect two months of one season and ended his year with Tommy John surgery in another.
Not his size -- the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder has heard more than once that he's too small to be a catcher.
Not even the fact that he only had 12 at-bats on his high school varsity team.
"All I can control is my effort out on the field. I have the heart to play -- I wouldn't want to do anything else," Riggans said. "I started playing when I was 5 years old, so it's been my lifelong dream to get to the big leagues."
Drafted by the Rays in the 24th round of the 2000 First-Year Player Draft out of Indian River Community College, Riggans has had two seasons of his five-year Minor League career shortened significantly due to injury. But after hearing the energetic 25-year-old encourage teammate Delmon Young during batting practice, and watching him joke around at his locker after Monday morning's workouts, you'll learn it's going take a lot more than a few aches and pains to slow down Riggans.
"I never played any other sport. I always grew up watching baseball, playing baseball, loving baseball," he said. "I just want to come out and play hard. I can't control the injuries, but I can control going out and playing hard every day."
His enthusiasm may be contagious. Riggans' hard-nosed approach to the game already has earned praise from Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who says the fiery catcher makes up for his small build with tenacity.
"It's really a direct outcome of how hard he plays," Friedman said. "It's hard to tell someone not to play the game. He's an extremely tough competitor, and he takes the defensive side of the game very seriously.
"He plays huge, and at the end of the day, that's what matters."
Twice named the organization's best defensive catcher by Baseball America, Riggans knows he has a lot to prove and didn't waste any time setting the record straight.
"I think you're undersized if mentally you think that," Riggans said. "Physically, I feel that I can compete with anybody. I'm not going to back down, because what comes around, goes around. I'm going to get my chance, too, and when I do, I'm not going to slide."
Maybe even more impressive than his defense is Riggans' bat. At Double-A Montgomery last season, he led all Rays Minor Leaguers in August with a .433 batting average to finish the season at .310, with 21 doubles, eight home runs and 53 RBIs. Riggans' career average of .293 is also the eighth highest all-time among Rays Minor Leaguers.
"I've seen guys like him with that kind of body build, and I like it, because I see a lot of limberness and looseness, and yet there's still a lot of strength involved," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Actually, he's in a good position, I think, to grow into that, and with the training we have, you're going to see him develop into a pretty well-developed [strong player]."
Riggans figures the offseason has given him time to mature as a player mentally. This is the first spring he's reported to Spring Training with no lingering soreness or injuries, and he has plenty of reasons to be excited for the year ahead.
"I'm a little bit smarter now," he said. "Now, I'm a little bit more reserved -- toning it down a little bit. I know I don't need to go out there and kill my arm on every throw.
"My arm finally doesn't hurt, there are no problems and I'm just really ready to get the season going."

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