When Good Things Happen to Bad Seasons

If you live in a baseball market where your team is already out of it, it’s likely that for a while there has been talk about next year, about “rebuilding.” I played for my share of those teams, and I know that this is the time of year when you can get a sense of what that rebuilt team might look like once they stop rebuilding. Because, as team rosters expand from 25 to 40 in September, this is when many young players get a true shot. They are penned into the lineup and allowed to play, to make mistakes, to compete against the best, every single night. The team is playing for the future, but the future gets to play, now.

Problem is, it’s September, and winning teams are getting all the attention; reconstruction stories run in the shadows. When young players have a chance to play every day with the latitude to make mistakes for the sake of education, it is often an indication that their team is not in the race, and their stories tend to be overlooked. Yet there are many talented young players with great stories on the teams that are heading home.

The Miami Marlins went through inordinate change during the off-season. New stadium, new manager, big spending. Yet 2012 has been frustrating, forcing them to trade key players like the third baseman Hanley Ramirez, the pitcher Aníbel Sánchez and the second baseman Omar Infante. But as a result, an exciting 24-year-old infielder called Donovan Solano, a native of Colombia, has gotten a shot and can still remain under the radar while he gets his reps. His story? It’s one of patience (seven minor league seasons) and also family: he has an older brother, Jhonatan, who also made it to the major leagues this year (a week after Donovan), with the Washington Nationals. (Donovan has played well, sporting a .287 average currently, showing speed and defensive versatility.)
 
The Arizona Diamondbacks were riding high in the pre-season with many predictors pushing for their second world championship. Instead they’re in third place in the National League West, playing sub-.500 ball. However, this has given them a chance to take a long look at the 23-year-old outfielder Adam Eaton, in case they want to move last year’s M.V.P. candidate Justin Upton to another team in the off-season. Eaton has responded by hitting .323 since he got the call.

By the July 31 trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies, World Series champs in 2008 and contenders since then, had fallen well behind and made moves that at first glance seemed to be like the waving of a white flag. Yet with the departure of some expensive and talented players, they were left with young, hungry go-getters. And they have played exceptionally well — surpassing their longest winning streak of the season. The Phillies might even make the playoffs this year, but even if they don’t, their youth movement is performing well against other teams that are still in the thick of the race. This is how they make a name for themselves, and the scouts and evaluators are paying attention.

Sure, baseball is a team sport, and being on a winner usually adds to an individual player’s value. Right now, there are several young players — like Baltimore’s Manny Machado, who electrifies with both glove and bat — who are key components on playoff contenders. But the risk is that your role on that winning team may not be the desired one of an “everyday” player. Do well as a pinch-hitter on a team that is winning, and you might stay a pinch-hitter forever.

Remember also that these young players are often competing against teams that are all-in, whose every game is critical to their playoff hopes. And that can be instructive, to say the least. When I was first called up, in 1996, I was eased into the mix, but by the next season, I was playing nearly every day. The Cubs were out of it early (we started the 1997 season 0-14), but I still had a chance to face the best pitchers out there. Playing on a team that was all but eliminated might sound like the pressure is off — less media attention (well, not in Boston this year), winning expectations are off, more acceptance of errors and other mistakes as part of the learning curve. But the player getting that first shot knows better. The first shot might be your only shot, if it doesn’t go well.

This is opportunity in baseball. A player waits and waits. Maybe an injury opens a door — that door opened for me once when the centerfielder in front of me, with the big contract, twisted his ankle. (By the way, it is not counterproductive to team spirit to be aware that your opportunity may come only when the experienced players are not performing well or get injured.)

Or maybe opportunity comes when an also-ran team gives you a chance. You never know when — and how — that window will open.