Wes Hodges is moving closer to the big leagues.

A 2006 second-round draft choice by the Cleveland Indians, the former Baylor School standout is expected to open 2009 with the club’s Class AAA team in Columbus, Ohio.

“The biggest thing I have learned is to understand that failure is a part of the game,” he said. “If you understand that, it enables you to look at the big picture and have fun. I focus on the game that day, and some of the guys I play with haven’t figured that out.”

If not for his own drive and expectations, Hodges might never have signed a scholarship with Georgia Tech or been drafted or stayed in baseball.

Then a shortstop, he started his senior season at Baylor as one of the area’s top baseball prospects and hit a towering home run in his first game.

“Over the summer after his junior year, Wes had really made a jump hitting right-handed, and he was really impressing the scouts with his power,” Baylor coach Gene Etter recalled.

The home run was the only one he would hit, because he broke a hamate bone in his right hand. He taught himself to bat left-handed, however, and finished the season with a .415 batting average and his second year on the Times Free Press Best of Preps team.

In just six years he has moved through the highly regarded Georgia Tech program and then quickly up the Indians’ farm system with just a year each at Class A Kinston, N.C., and Class AA Akron, Ohio.

“Wes was always a person you thought could do the job, but then he would surpass expectations,” Etter said. “He always was one who was able to achieve the goals he set for himself.”

Returning to the right side of the plate, Hodges moved into the Yellow Jackets’ lineup as a third baseman in his freshman season. After hitting .397 as a junior he was a preseason All-America pick and was off to a great senior year before another injury, a stress fracture in his shin.

The Indians picked him in the second round of the 2006 draft, but the injury forced him to sit out that year.

He hit .288 with 15 homers and 71 RBIs with Kinston in 2007 and last year had a .290 batting average with 18 homers and 97 RBIs. He was named to league all-star teams at both levels and played last summer in the Futures Game at Yankee Stadium.

In the 2008 Arizona Fall League for projected future big-leaguers, Hodges hit .349 with six home runs and 26 RBIs in 25 games.

He left Sunday for a two-week camp in Tampa, Fla., and from there he’ll go to Cleveland for a week to familiarize himself with the stadium, the city and the Indians’ operations staff.

“Life has been great, a tremendous experience,” he said. “Not only have I met a lot of people and been to places I hadn’t seen, but I have learned a lot about life. I think I’m a better person. Every day is a challenge, but I am definitely more mature, although in most ways I’m the same person I was when I was at Baylor.

“I’m still studying, but I’m studying different things. I’m always trying to learn and I try to learn from everybody. Where I am now, everybody is smarter and better. People don’t make as many mistakes. I’m trying not to waste any days or opportunities, and I’m trying to put myself in situations to move up the ladder.”

Even with the Indians’ recent signing of Mark DeRosa, Hodges could get big-league time this year.

“It depends on how he’s doing and how I’m doing, but I’m close and knocking on the door,” he said. “Now it’s about performance and having a little luck go your way. But in the big picture it’s still a game and, baseball aside, I have been blessed. I’m thankful for the opportunities, and I am trying to enjoy them and make the most of them.”

Tech Talk