Height: 5-11 Weight: 185
Position: OF
Athletes who attend a Division II college on a football scholarship aren’t likely to have visions of playing major league baseball dancing through the heads, even if they do walk on to the baseball team and end up as the starting centerfielder.
But then again, hitting .404 with an on base percentage of .477 – the way Omaha Royals outfielder David Lough (pronounced Low) did during his senior season on the Mercyhurst College (Pa.) baseball team – isn’t all that common either.
Now, as Lough begins his third full season in the minor leagues after being drafted in the 11th round by the Kansas City Royals in 2007, he finds himself one step away from the big leagues after piling up awards and climbing his way up the various prospect lists, including Baseball America – where he is the 10th highest prospect in the organization.
In his first full season (2008) in Class-A Burlington, he ranked in the Midwest League’s top 10 in runs (76), triples (11) and home runs (16). In his second full season (2009), which included stops in both Burlington and Double-A Northwest Arkansas, he hit a combined .325 with 14 HR, 61 RBIs, and 19 SB. As a result he received the George Brett Hitter of the Year Award, was named the Northwest Arkansas player of the year as well as being named a mid-season Carolina League All-Star.
“I’m all about playing the game hard,” Lough said. “I feel like if you play hard, play smart, you do the right things, you take care of your body, [then] things will start turning your way. I felt that, with my hard work and my dedication to the game, and working on the things I need to work on, that I could become a complete player and kind of move up in the system pretty quick.”
As the left-handed hitter continues his quest to become a complete player, Omaha Royals manager Mike Jirschele likes what he sees from Lough, and he likes Lough's chances of playing in Kansas City soon.
“He can run balls down in the outfield,” Jirschele said. “He’s got a strong arm. He can steal bases – that’s one thing he’s working on this year, is trying to steal more bases. He’s had a few where he’s had them stolen this year, but we swung at pitches. So, we’ve got to have the hitter after him be patient too, when he does take a bag – let him take a bag and let him get there, and then drive him in. Overall, I can definitely see him helping our big league club here in the next year or so.”
Defensively, Jirschele says Lough can both, cover, and has the arm, to play all three outfield positions. Other entities, such as Baseball America, say Lough's arm is slightly below average, but accurate.
Lough says he'll play whatever position the club needs him to play.
Offensively, he’s been a leadoff hitter most of the season so far for Omaha. He got off to a slow start though – mostly falling victim to pitches up out of the strike zone and out of the strike zone in general, but he is learning to adapt to Triple-A pitching and his average is beginning to climb. In his last five games, he is hitting .316 (6-for-19), bringing his season average up to .255.
“In Triple-A, there’s more crafty guys who have been in the big leagues for three or four years who just try to get guys out,” Lough said. “And if they see that you are going to chase one up high or down in the dirt, they’re going to keep throwing you that. You get a reputation for that. You need to be more patient at the plate and show them that you can take those pitches and then hit the pitch that they bring to you.”
Fans with an eye for numbers are usually quick to point out Lough’s poor strikeout to walk ratio (going into this season he had struck out 147 times and walked 63 times), but it’s nothing to worry about according to Greg Schaum, a radio personality in Kansas City who also runs www.royalsprospects.com.
“He’s still learning the game,” Schaum said. “He’s no different than Hilton Richardson [who currently plays for Burlington] or the kid [Rey] Navarro the Royals just got in a trade. The fact is, he’s learning the game and he’s good. He’s figuring it out. He’ll figure out which pitches to stay away from.
“I think he’s definitely the best prospect they have at Triple-A.”
Even though his baseball future looks bright, that didn’t stop him from making good on a promise to his parents to go back and finish his college education at Mercyhurst after the Royals drafted him.
“My parents always thought I should get my education, no matter what,” Lough said. “There are no guarantees in life. Something could tragically happen – hopefully not – but I felt like I wanted to go back and get my education. At the same time, I could work out with the team and the players I played with there and work on staying in shape.”
When Lough is not playing baseball, you’ll probably find him doing something outdoors.
“I like to go skiing, even though that’s kind of a dangerous thing to do,” Lough said. “I like to be outside. I was always like that as a little kid. I like to go hiking and like to play a lot of golf. I do golf right handed though so it doesn’t mess up my swing.”
