No Reason To Leave
July 29, 2005 - Frontier League (FL)
Chillicothe Paints News Release
When I first decided on doing a story on David Gingrich, the hook, to me, seemed to be that he's an improbable starter -- someone who got his chance on the field and refused to give anyone a reason to take him off it.
And really, that seemed to be the case. The Paints started the season with what they thought was a loaded outfield, a solid infield and enough guys to rotate in and out of the designated hitter role that players like Gingrich looked to be the odd men out; situational guys who came and when whenever the circumstance called for them.
I didn't know how deep it went.
It's not just playing almost every day. It goes as deep as the very shirt he wears for three hours every night.
"He's one of those guys nobody liked after spring training," Paints manager Glenn Wilson said. "There were a lot of questions about why I'd keep a guy like that. He had a huge loop in his swing and everything, but I saw something in him that made him an attractive prospect."
Prospect.
Prospect. After his first 42 games, Gingrich has become more than a prospect.
As of July 25, the left-handed outfielder is a lot more. He was hitting .339 -- third on the team of anybody with close to that much playing time -- with 15 RBIs and 22 runs scored. He's straight out of college (Incarnate Word) and still making adjustments to pro ball.
"I knew I could hit at this level," Gingrich said. "But knowing that and proving it on the field are two different things."
Gingrich played wood-bat ball every summer through college, so the true lumber he swings in the Frontier League wasn't that much of a change for him. But there are some things to get used to when you're paid to play the game.
"The biggest thing is the quality of pitching," Gingrich said. "Day in and day out, it's so much better."
There's no doubt the Texas native still has plenty of work to do, but Wilson sees a bright future for his prospect player.
"He can hit at this level," Wilson said. "He went to a small college and in that situation the coaches don't have a lot of time to teach fundamentals. That's the biggest thing that's holding him back is the fundamentals of baseball and he's got a lot of room to improve. He can be a star in this league next year then be ready for organized ball if he keeps working on things."
Work doesn't seem to be a problem for Gingrich.
He didn't play in the opener, then went oh-fer as a pinch hitter in Game 2. His first start was five games into the season, when he went 1-for-4 with a run scored in Florence. After another break, he got his second hit in the ninth game of the season.
It was spotty like that for a while.
Gingrich created his biggest break in late June, when he went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in a home game against River City. That performance pushed his average past .300, and pushed him on the field basically every day since. He's never dipped past the .300 mark since (again, as of July 25) and was hitting a solid .339 through the Florence series.
"For the rest of the year, I'm just basically looking to get better in every aspect of the game," he said. "From at-bat to at-bat and from game to game, that's what I want to do."
"He can definitely get better," Wilson said. "It's a lot of things. My biggest concern about him now is his first two steps defensively in the outfield, but he's very coachable -- extremely coachable -- and he's got a bright future."
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Frontier League Stories from July 29, 2005
- âHawks Win Pitcher's Duel, 1-0 - Rockford RiverHawks
- Otters lose game in ninth - Evansville Otters
- No Reason To Leave - Chillicothe Paints
- âHawks Homestand is a Diamond in the Rough - Rockford RiverHawks
- Mavericks Win in Extra Innings - Mid-Missouri Mavericks
- Florence falls in close game vs. Windy City - OSC Original by Andrew Kappes
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