Working Man’s Ballplayer

Mega-million dollar paychecks, whether for CEOs or Alex Rodriguez, are coming under special scrutiny. Conventional wisdom has it that those occupying the heights of the market place make the big money because of talent and hard work. The most recent allegations about A-Rod call the question, so I thought it pertinent to seek out a ball player on the other end of the spectrum, one whose work ethic defines him rather than the paydays that remain relatively modest.

Luke Montz is a 25-year old catcher in the Washington Nationals system who has quietly worked his way up the charts. Baseball America’s Prospects Handbook acknowledged Luke’s talent and hard work for the first time ever, but put him at a disappointing #29 in their most recent appraisal of Washington minor league talent. It was Montz’s defensive skill set that were questioned by BA and then debated at Nationals Farm Authority. But in a phone interview Montz articulated a prodigious work ethic that he believes has transformed his defensive skills and made a 17th round draft pick into a legitimate catching prospect with a shot at the majors in 2009.

Montz spent much of 2008 at Harrisburg, PA playing for the Senators where he not only racked up some nice stats, but mentored with one of the best athletes to catch in the majors, John Stearns. Montz played the previous two years at A-ball for another old catcher, Randy Knorr, and it seems fair to ask how extensively BA talked to either of them about the defensive skills Montz honed over the past three seasons in the minors.

When Montz’s 2008 season began in Harrisburg, Manager Stearns had never seen him play and he was not even the starter. That only lasted a few games until he began to show well in batting practice. On a trip to Harrisburg to see Justin Maxwell and talk to Stearns about the local guy from Silver Spring, I noticed Montz taking his cuts in the cage. The ball jumped off his bat and I asked Stearns about his young catcher. His assessment focused mostly on Montz’s bat, but he spoke positively about Montz ability to control the running game as well.

Montz and his Harrisburg teammates had a very strong first half and he moved up to Triple-A with a head of steam, hitting .282 with 14 homers in 220 Double-A at bats. What hurt Montz’s evaluation for 2009 was the slow start he got off to in Columbus, slumping badly in the first few weeks. “Hitting coach Rick Eckstein had me trying some different things and I did not feel comfortable at first.”

The most noticeable difference was a falloff in selectivity at the plate. Clearly pressing, Eckstein let Montz go back to his old stroke and Luke raised his average enough to earn a September call-up to Washington. Getting four starts at catcher with the Nationals in the last few weeks of the season, he hit a homer in the very last game against the World Champion Phillies, something he will remember for a long time.

Montz knows that for catchers defense is the name of the game and, more to the point, he knows it is what will get him to the majors. Although BA did not highlight his arm, he threw out more than 40 percent of runners in Harrisburg. “When guys got on base, I was just waiting for them to run. I had a really nice thing going for a while. I think I was cutting down close to fifty percent on the bases.” Stearns helped Montz with what he saw as a weakness, namely his set up behind the plate, telling him he needed work on positioning and blocking pitches in the dirt. Montz does not have lightning quick reflexes behind the plate, but hard work seems to be paying off. In his starts with the Nationals, he looked very solid in handling major league pitchers.

Hard work is what will make Montz a pro. He has not slacked off for a minute this off-season in his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana. “I am doing everything I can so that this spring I can show the Nationals–or someone–that I can play every day behind the plate.” In the past Montz was forced to work during the off-season to support himself, mostly doing bush-hogging–cleaning out miles of gas pipeline right-of-way.

This off-season is the first he has been able to concentrate more on a workout regimen. He hits the weights every morning and the batting cage in the afternoons. “I know how important it is to be able to step in, to be ready to play, and provide leadership behind the plate.” That’s what Montz will bring to the Nationals, whether he starts at Syracuse or in Washington in 2009.

So, while the hot stove headlines are dominated by whether Manny Ramirez will sit rather that work for a meager 25 million dollars; while too many baseball players seem to have lost sight of the reality many Americans are living–rising unemployment and widening despair–some ball players are just working hard, to get ahead. Fans do not look to sports for leadership on meaningful issues like the economy, which is a good thing. But leadership is what Luke Montz thinks he can provide–on the playing field and off.

Giving Luke Montz a chance in DC this season might be just another long shot story that ends up lost in the small print. Or it could be another example of a conventional wisdom that gets re-tooled. Either way, Luke Montz will have that home run ball from Philly. There is no taking that one back.