'HAWKS' CATCHER MAKES STRIDES.Byline: Gideon Rubin Special to the Daily News LANCASTER - JetHawks catcher Miguel Montero's comments about his 19-game hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak refers to the consecutive number of official games in which a player gets at least one base hit. Games in which a player does not have any official at bats due to walks, or sacrifice bunts, or being hit by a pitch, are ignored (neither break the streak , which ended in late May, reflected a perspective rare for a player of his age. ``I am human,'' the 21-year-old Venezuelan said. ``Every day is not the same.'' The type of year he's having with the JetHawks raises serious doubts about both assertions. A .273 career hitter with 18 homers in three years of pro ball heading into this season, Montero mon·te·ro n. pl. mon·te·ros A hunter's cap with side flaps. [Spanish, hunter, from monte, mountain, from Latin m is putting up the kind of numbers that get players to the big leagues fast. Montero is ranked among the California League's leaders in each of the triple-crown categories. He's fourth in hitting with a .355 batting average batting average n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. , second in homers (21) and is second among all minor-leaguers with 75 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in . He leads minor-league baseball in hits (107) and runs (61). Montero will represent the JetHawks at Tuesday's California/Carolina League All-Star game An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league. The players are often chosen by a popular vote of fans of the sport and the game often occurs at the halfway point of the regular season, although this is not the case for some all-star games at Harry Grove Stadium Harry Grove Stadium, located in Frederick, Maryland, is the home of the Frederick Keys, a class A minor league affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Opened in 1990, it seats 5,400 fans. in Frederick, Md., and has been selected to play for the World team in next month's Futures game in Detroit. ``The home runs are great, obviously, but you just look at what he's doing out there,'' said JetHawks pitcher Garrett Mock Garrett Lee Mock, born April 25, 1983, in Houston, Texas, is a North American professional baseball player. He is a right-handed pitching prospect in the Washington Nationals organization. , a Cal League All-Star. ``He's putting together one quality at-bat after another. That's what you want out of a guy batting in the middle of the order.'' Lancaster's hitter-friendly conditions haven't hurt Montero. His road numbers are impressive, too. Montero has hit 10 of his homers on the road. He's batting .400 at home and .319 on the road. ``He's done damage everywhere,'' JetHawks manager Bill Plummer William Francis Plummer (born March 21, 1947 in Oakland, CA) was a catcher for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and the Seattle Mariners. While never a regular player (he was Johnny Bench's backup catcher during the Big Red Machine years), he did play solid defense. said. Montero has come out of nowhere to emerge as an elite prospect. Baseball America  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . didn't rank him among the parent Arizona Diamondbacks' top 30 prospects going into the season. Montero grades out as a plus (above-average by major-league standards) defender and hitter with plus-plus power, according to Diamondbacks farm director Bob Miller. ``We feel he's come a long way, and he's going to continue to get better,'' Miller said. ``He could be one of the best catchers in the minor leagues.'' Originally signed by Arizona in April 2001 as a 17-year-old nondrafted free agent, Montero credits work with Plummer during extended spring training in 2002 and 2003 with helping him develop his hitting and catching skills. Plummer was Johnny Bench's backup with the Cincinnati Reds most of the 1970s. ``(Plummer) helped me a lot with everything,'' Montero said. The work has paid off. Despite his age, Montero's presence has commanded the respect of a veteran pitching staff. ``Usually, how guys play and produce does all the talking,'' JetHawks reliever Reuben Kerbs said. ``That's how you gain your respect. Just as far as what he's done production-wise, he has respect from me and all the other pitchers.'' In addition to some batting adjustments he's made under the tutelage TUTELAGE. State of guardianship; the condition of one who is subject to the control of a guardian. of JetHawks hitting coach Damon Mashore, Montero says taking better care of his body - he said he's eating less junk food junk food n. Any of various prepackaged snack foods high in calories but low in nutritional value. junk food and trying not to sleep in too late, which makes him sluggish - is a key factor in his breakthrough numbers. His maturation, he said, came out of necessity. ``When you get out on your own so (young), you have to mature,'' said Montero, who first came to the United States when he was 17. ``You have to learn to make your life on your own. I'm alone now. I don't have anybody to help me. ``When I came home after my first year (in the United States), my father told me, 'You're not a baby anymore.''' Gideon Rubin, (818)713-3607 gideon.rubin(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: MIGUEL MONTERO JetHawks is battling .355, with 21 HR and 75 RBI. |
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