WOODBRIDGE--It took Kory Casto all of three games to find out why third base is known as the "hot corner."
A converted outfielder, the then-23-year-old Oregon native was still in the early stages of his transition to third base at Class-A Savannah when a hard ground ball took a bad hop and hit him in the face during a game against Asheville.
Casto's eye socket was fractured in two places--an injury that threatened to end the career of one of the Montreal Expos' most promising prospects almost as soon as it had begun.
Casto missed only two weeks. The skin around his eye was still black and blue when he returned to the field, earning kudos within the Expos' organization for his courage.
The psychological scars ran deeper.
"It definitely spooked me," said Casto, who will start at third base for the Potomac Nationals when they open the 2005 season Friday at Salem.
The injury didn't affect Casto at the plate, where he hit .286 with 35 doubles, 16 home runs and 88 RBIs.
Casto struggled mightily on defense, though. He committed 35 errors, then chalked up a significant portion of that figure to his lingering uncertainty about continuing to place his body in the path of a speeding baseball.
"When bullets are getting hit at you, it's not all about talent," Potomac infielder Greg Thissen said. "It takes some real guts to stay down on a ball in the infield. You never know what could happen; the ball can always jump up and hit you right in the teeth."
First-year Potomac manager Bob Henley, who was Casto's skipper in Savannah last season, put more credence in Casto's expedited return than his high error total.
"A guy who had played 10 years would've had a hard time coming back from an injury like that, much less a guy in his first year at third base," Henley said. "That tells you a lot about his makeup, his toughness and his work ethic.
"Any time you make a position change, it's going to be difficult. But if anybody is going to make it smoothly, I think Kory can."
Just two years ago, Casto seemed an unlikely candidate for a move to third base. He was an outfielder in high school, then played right field at the University of Portland before the Expos picked him in the third round of the 2003 draft.
He continued to roam the outfield until the final day of his rookie season in Vermont, when his manager told him to take some grounders at third base.
The Expos' brass, it seemed, thought more of the relatively slow-footed Casto's future as an infielder. They also jumped at the chance to add a left-handed power bat at third base.
When he arrived in Florida for his first spring training as a pro last February, Casto set out to learn a position he hadn't played since a brief stint in Little League.
"It definitely forces you to think through the game more than when you're in the outfield," Casto said. "You have to be in the game mentally on every single pitch. If you're not, you can lose your head pretty quickly when the ball gets hit to you."
Casto said each of his 35 errors last season served as motivation for his off-season training regimen. He fielded thousands of grounders this spring and has shown dramatic improvement with the glove.
Baseball America rated Casto as the No. 9 prospect in the entire Washington Nationals' minor-league system. Nobody else on the Potomac roster was even listed in the top 30.
Henley, however, understands that mistakes still will happen.
"There has to be a certain amount of patience with him," he said. "He's already twice the player he was defensively last year and he's only going to get better."
His injured eye now completely healed, Casto views his new position as something of a badge of courage.
"One of my friends got some time at third base in spring training and he said, 'I don't envy you at all. I'm never going back there,'" Casto said with a laugh. "It's something I take pride in."
To reach JIM McCONNELL: 540/374-5444 jmcconnell@freelancestar.com