Scott Van Slyke, No. 18.Players often show notable improvement during their second season in the Southern League, but Chattanooga first baseman Scott Van Slyke is taking that to the extreme.
After hitting .235 with the Lookouts last year and getting sent back to high Single-A, Van Slyke is now the Southern League's top hitter. He entered Monday night's schedule with a league-leading .374 average, 13 doubles and 19 extra-base hits, with his 25 RBIs in the first 30 games ranking third.
"It's just having the confidence when you go up to the plate and knowing what your job is, which is to hit the ball hard," Van Slyke said. "When you step to the plate you've got to have confidence, and I've got that this year. I can't think about what happened last year. It's a new year, and I'm feeling good."
Lookouts manager Carlos Subero would love to take credit for the riveting uptick by the 24-year-old son of former St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andy Van Slyke, but he defers to hitting coach Franklin Stubbs. Van Slyke worked under Stubbs at high-A Inland Empire in 2009, when he batted .294 with 42 doubles and 23 home runs and was a California League All-Star, and again last year following his demotion.
In 48 high-A games last season, the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder from Ladue, Mo., hit .307 with 12 doubles, nine homers and 35 RBIs.
"Every year I've had him, he's hit the ball well," Stubbs said. "It's just a matter of him keeping his legs under him. He's been getting better rhythm at the plate, and he's staying within himself and not getting too wide.
"When he has a tendency to get too wide, he gets a little long. When he has good rhythm, he usually swings the bat pretty good."
Stubbs played against Van Slyke's father for seven consecutive National League seasons, 1984-90, and said any father-son comparisons should probably begin and end with the last name.
"They are two totally different players," Stubbs said. "Scott's a little bit bigger, and I thought Andy was a little more hard-nosed. Scott can probably hit the ball a little farther than his dad, but his dad was one of those gritty players who got after you every day. I just think they have two very different styles."
The Los Angeles Dodgers selected the son in the 14th round of the 2005 draft out of high school, and he began his steady trek through the organizational ranks as an outfielder. His biggest developmental setback took place last June, when he was sent down to high-A after 65 games with Chattanooga and replaced on the roster by Jerry Sands.
Any hopes of quickly returning to Double-A were squelched by Sands, who was on his way to becoming the organization's top minor leaguer and now is with the big-league club.
"Van Slyke had his breakout year in 2009 and kind of put himself on the map, so we all had high expectations for him last year," Subero said. "Once he started to struggle, he let it snowball instead of bringing the same, successful approach he had in the past. He dug a hole and never got out of it, but he went to California to work with someone who knew him very well."
While Subero praises Stubbs for Van Slyke's productivity, Van Slyke appreciates Subero for how handled the demotion last year in the manager's office.
"He told me what was going on and why they were doing it," Van Slyke said. "He still believed in me even though I was getting sent down. He handled it great, so that made it all right."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.