Baseball Beginnings

By John Klima
July 29, 2009

(Potomac Nationals)

At the ripe old age of 20, Michael Burgess is already a third-year pro closing in 1,000 career at-bats. Selected with Washington’s third pick in the 2007 draft, 49^th overall, Burgess clearly has the Tampa baseball blood lines.

His bat speed is a blur, but what he does with it as pitchers adjust to staying away from him will dictate his success. His batting average was only .240 entering July 2009, but he had raised that from around .220. He hit 23 home runs as a teenager between Hagerstown and Potomoc in 2008 and started the 2009 season with 13 home runs in his first 72 games in 2009.

Among the young players at the California-Carolina League All-Star game, Burgess was among the youngest ones. He has 47 home runs as a pro after signing out of high school. He fell in and out of his swing when I watched him take BP, a pattern that carried over into the game. When he did find himself and stayed on the ball, he drove a double off the wall in right field.

The bat is what will get Burgess to the big leagues. He’s a better athlete than his stocky body indicates and he’ll have to hit for enough power to hold down right field, where he can take advantage of his other tool, his arm.

Burgess has a Kirby Puckett body. He has the physical skill to speed up his bat when he wants to. How far Burgess comes with the other aspects of the game will likely dictate his future. Baseball Beginnings caught up with Burgess at the California-Carolina League All-Star game at Lake Elsinore.

Baseball Beginnings: You’re an old 20 now. How do you feel you’re better since you signed?
Burgess: I feel I’m a lot better. As far as my game, man, I play a lot harder than I used to. Everything else I feel has improved tremendously: hitting, fielding and base running. I never really stole that many bases, but I think I might be able to make that a bigger part of my game in the future

Baseball Beginnings: You sound like you’re a more confident player this year. Is that accurate?
Burgess: Yeah, but I have confidence every year. I’m trying to take my time and get everything right. That’s a big part of it for me, just slowing things down and basically not getting ahead of myself.

Baseball Beginnings: How is the Potomac ballpark to hit in for you?
Burgess: Potomac is pretty nice. Some days it blows out and some days it doesn’t. It’s a pretty nice place to hit in.

Baseball Beginnings: What do you think you still need to work on and what kind of player do you feel you are becoming?
Burgess: The biggest adjustment is getting a good pitch to hit and staying in your zone and not chasing pitcher’s pitches. That’s what it’s about. As long as I do that, I feel like the sky’s the limit.

Baseball Beginnings: So are you trying to stay in your zone and get a good pitch to drive?
Burgess: Yeah. I’ll hit the ball anywhere.

Baseball Beginnings: How would you describe the new levels of maturity you have to master to become an advanced player?
Burgess: Basically I feel like I can do anything I set my mind to on the field. As long as I stay within myself, everything should come easy.

Categories: 2009 Minor Leagues
Tags: California-Carolina League All-Star Game, Michael Burgess, Washington Nationals