 |
| Giavotella continues to work on his defense at second base (File photo: Lee Warren) |
The 5’ 8” second baseman’s 49 hits (.398 average) in June were more than any other player in professional baseball – from Class A through the big leagues. And he’s hitting at a better clip in July (31-for-77, a .403 average). He currently leads the Omaha Storm Chasers in hitting (.342), hits (139), doubles (30), total bases (198), OBP (.396), multi-hit games (40) and he’s tied for first in RBIs (65).
The right-handed hitter is hitting both righties (.331) and lefties (.374), and strangely, he is hitting better when he is behind in the count (.374) than when he is ahead (.356). He also has power (9 home runs).
The 2008 second round draft pick (No. 49 overall) is currently working on a 12-game hitting streak going into action this afternoon at Werner Park. In the nine games since the All-Star break, he is hitting .463 (19-for-41). And, not surprisingly, he was named the Topps Pacific Coast League Player of the Month for June as well as a PCL Mid-Season All-Star.
“He’s consistent every day,” said hitting coach Tommy Gregg after the game last night. “He doesn’t miss pitches, knock on wood, when he gets good pitches and he squares them up, finds holes and continues to swing the bat well for us.”
Here’s a look at Giavotella’s career minor league numbers:
| Year | Age | Tm | Lev | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 20 | Burlington | A | 68 | 278 | 50 | 83 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 26 | 10 | 25 | 34 | .299 | .355 | .421 | .776 |
| 2009 | 21 | Wilmington | A+ | 133 | 476 | 84 | 123 | 24 | 8 | 6 | 52 | 26 | 66 | 54 | .258 | .351 | .380 | .731 |
| 2010 | 22 | Northwest Arkansas | AA | 134 | 522 | 92 | 168 | 35 | 5 | 9 | 65 | 13 | 61 | 67 | .322 | .395 | .460 | .855 |
| 2011 | 23 | Omaha | AAA | 99 | 407 | 60 | 139 | 30 | 1 | 9 | 65 | 9 | 37 | 51 | .342 | .396 | .486 | .883 |
| 4 Seasons | 434 | 1683 | 286 | 513 | 107 | 16 | 28 | 208 | 58 | 189 | 206 | .305 | .376 | .437 | .813 | |||
Giavotella made time after the game last night to answer a few questions for Omaha Baseball 360.
You are having a great season. What are you seeing out there and what is your current approach at the plate?
I’m staying consistent with my approach. I’m doing the same thing I’ve been doing the entire year – just hunting the fastball and adjusting to the breaking ball. It’s just the way I’ve always been – a good fastball hitter and I try to stick with that approach. You know, I’m getting good fastball counts and I’m not missing the pitch when it comes.
So you haven’t made any adjustments to your approach this season?
My swinging approach has been the same since I was six years old. I just hit the fastball and adjust to anything else. In the offseason, I just continue to work on my swing – to work on staying consistent, up the middle. And on defense, working to improve there.
Fans want to see you in KC. I’m sure you’re waiting for the call too. How do you stay focused?
You really just can’t think about it. You’ve just got to go out there and give it the best you can every game and be working on constantly getting better in BP, and taking ground balls before the game – just working on what you do need to work on so when they do call you up, you’ll be ready.
Obviously, you want to get to the big leagues, but is there a part of you that thinks it might be fun to stick around with this ballclub for the next five or six weeks since they are making a run at the playoffs?
Wherever I am, I’m going to try to win. Doesn’t matter where I’m at, I’m going to give it the best I can and rally with these guys and do the best we can. Where just going to try to get as many wins on the board as possible.
When you hear statistics such as you have more hits in professional baseball than anybody else over the last couple of months, what do you think about that? Were you aware of that?
No, I wasn’t actually. But it’s definitely a big accomplishment. You know, I’m very proud of the way I’ve progressed in my minor league career. Staying consistent and going up to the plate with confidence is one of things I really strive on and it’s a great accomplishment.
You’ve been on Twitter (@Gio2bKC) for a while, engaging with fans. Are you having fun with that?
Yeah, me and Eric Hosmer actually joined Twitter at the same time in Spring Training and it was a fun little thing just to kind of interact with the fans and see what they had to say about a couple of things so it’s fun to go on there every once in a while and see what they have to say and talk back to them whenever I can.
