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Peacock blooms behind plate
Nationals Report: In the minors
Date published: 8/3/2006
By TODD JACOBSON The drive wasn't the easiest in the world. It took about an hour--three times a week--to get from Palmetto, Fla., to Tampa, but it was a drive Nationals minor league catcher Brian Peacock made without complaint dozens of times this winter. It was worth every minute. Peacock's destination was an indoor sports facility in Tampa where he met with Nationals bullpen coach Randy Knorr. For hours, Peacock and Knorr, a former big league catcher, worked on the finer points of hitting and catching, specifically how to handle pitchers, how to block balls and how to stay settled behind the plate. "It was just a plus to have someone like Randy that knows everything about the game," Peacock said. "It helped a great bunch. I got to spring training, and I felt like I was ready." He's spent the season proving he belongs. Peacock was an unheralded draft-and-follow pick, a 39th round selection in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft who took almost 12 months to sign after spending a year at Manatee (Fla.) Community College. But if he was an obscure prospect then, he's emerged this year as a player to watch--especially in an organization bereft of catching prospects. "He is a great worker," Nats farm director Andy Dunn said. "For a kid who is his size--physically, he's not a large human being, but he's strong and he will challenge you. He is a leader and that's what I look for in that position and he is a kid who is going to do some really good things." Peacock, 21, leads low-Single-A Savannah with 11 homers, is third on the team with 38 RBIs, and entering play yesterday, he was hitting .243. He was one of two Sand Gnats selected to the South Atlantic League all-star team. "Coming into this year I just wanted to be consistent," Peacock said. "I wasn't surprised. I wasn't sitting back thinking, 'I can't believe I am doing this.'" Knorr hasn't been surprised by Peacock's progress, either. After Knorr was promoted from Single-A Potomac to the Nationals in June, he continued keeping tabs on Peacock. "I think he has definitely opened some eyes," Knorr said. "I think his confidence got a lot better, and I saw him in spring training. I don't think people really realized how good he was. We threw him up with the Triple-A players and the players in Triple-A, everyone likes him." To reach TODD JACOBSON:
Date published: 8/3/2006
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