Trying to stay up on the farm

Sullivan knows role this time in Triple-A

By Jack Etkin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Monday, May 12, 2008

COLORADO SPRINGS — On the surface, nothing appears to have changed. Cory Sullivan is playing center field for Triple-A Colorado Springs, starting a second consecutive season with the Sky Sox after a strong but unsuccessful bid to make the Rockies roster.

What’s different this year is Sullivan’s mind-set as he travels the Pacific Coast League bent on returning to the Rockies.

“It’s been easier,” Sullivan said. “I think it was clear I’m a big-league player, but I have to put in my time here because they wanted to go a different way. Rather than try to push against it or be (upset) that I’m here, I think I have to be comfortable with it and just try and be ready — not let myself get down on myself.”

Sullivan’s reprieve from the Sky Sox last year didn’t come until June 15, when the Rockies recalled him.

Ten days earlier, the Rockies cut ties with outfielder Steve Finley, a veteran who was nearing his 42nd birthday when he signed Feb. 24 as spring training was beginning but one who couldn’t adjust to the reality that his days of regularly playing had passed.

After Finley hit .181 in 43 games, the Rockies went in a different direction. That direction was not a beeline toward Sullivan. The Rockies first promoted outfielder Sean Barker, but 10 days later optioned him back to the Sky Sox and recalled Sullivan.

Never mind that Barker bats right-handed and Sullivan, like Finley, bats and throws left-handed. There was a reason the Rockies opted for Barker and not Sullivan, one that had nothing to with balance on the bench and everything to do with performance.

Sullivan was hitting only .212 through June 1, then went on a .559 tear in what proved to be his final 10 games with the Sky Sox before being recalled.

“I didn’t understand it last year,” Sullivan, 28, said of his demotion. “I wasn’t real comfortable, and I was angry for the first month and a half. And it took me that long to start performing.”

Sullivan, whose 12-game hitting streak ended Thursday, has performed well this year, hitting .303 with nine doubles, three home runs, 15 RBI and 23 runs in 29 games.

But unlike last year, no veteran outfielder such as Finley is faltering with the Rockies, causing them to seek help from below.

On the contrary, Scott Podsednik, 32, who beat out Sullivan in spring training for the final roster spot, has been a nice addition.

Unlike Finley, Podsednik has shown he can produce off the bench, accepts the fact he’ll spend time on it and has given the Rockies another base-stealing threat to go with Willy Taveras.

In addition to Podsednik, who bats left-handed, and Taveras, the Rockies have another center fielder in Ryan Spilborghs, a right-handed hitter.

All of which means the Rockies might be willing to trade Sullivan, who is making $1 million.

In the meantime, all Sullivan can do is wait. Colorado Springs manager Tom Runnells said he has challenged Sullivan to make the most of his time with the Sky Sox.

“We’ve had many discussions about not just being here waiting to get called back up, but being here to get better and work on things, so he can actually feel like he’s getting something out of being here, not just being here to wait,” Runnells said.

Runnells said Sullivan has been working to become a better base-runner and to keep an emphasis on having quality at-bats.

“And I’ve challenged him and talked to him about being a better leader for the rest of the team and helping me with some of the younger guys,” Runnells said. “I think he’s accepted that and understands it, and he’s been great for me. I mean, he really has.”

Sullivan appeared in 72 games for the Rockies last year, hitting .286 with two homers and 14 RBI. He did well as a pinch hitter, going 8-for-31 with five RBI, and played very well on defense.

When Taveras aggravated a right quadriceps injury Sept. 7, an injury that sidelined him until the National League Championship Series, Sullivan started 11 games, contributed to the Rockies’ improbably wonderful ride and went 2-for-6 in six games during the postseason.

Now, Sullivan again is batting against pitchers from the Sacramento River Cats, Round Rock Express, Portland Beavers and Albuquerque Isotopes, hoping to leave the purgatory of the Pacific Coast League sometime soon.

“I mean, if I’m here all year, I’m here all year,” Sullivan said. “I’d like to think I’ll have an opportunity to help the team up there. And if I get the chance, I’ll do what I can.”

In the interim, Sullivan pushes on, hoping to rejoin his friends on the Rockies and hoping that come 2009, there is no beginning a third season with the Sky Sox.

“There could be,” Sullivan said. “I do have another option.”

etkinj@RockyMountainNews.com

Familiar faces

Some members of the Sky Sox finished last season with the Rockies during their drive to the National League pennant and are trying to work their way back to the majors.

3B Ian Stewart: Made major league debut Aug. 11 and got first major league hit the next day. In second career start, hit a grand slam for first major league home run. Hit .209 with one homer and nine RBI in 35 games. Went 5-for-27 with four RBI as a pinch hitter. Is hitting .265 with nine homers and 30 RBI this season for the Sky Sox. Broke a string of 22 hitless at-bats May 5. Hit two homers and drove in six runs Wednesday. A modified stance has helped generate more power than last year, when he hit .304 with 15 homers and 65 RBI in 112 games for the Sky Sox.

1B Joe Koshansky: Made major league debut Sept. 1 and went 1-for-12 with two RBI in 17 games with the Rockies, including 1-for-11 as a pinch hitter. Hitting .286 with six homers and 24 RBI this season for the Sky Sox.

OF Seth Smith: Added to Rockies roster Sept. 16, the day they began their 14-1 sprint to the postseason. Went 5-for-8 in seven games, including 5-for-7 as a pinch hitter, with one triple and four runs. Appeared in six of the Rockies’ 11 postseason games, all as a pinch hitter, and went 3-for-6 with one double and two RBI. Smith is hitting .308 with three homers and 20 RBI this season for the Sky Sox.

LHP Franklin Morales: Made major league debut Aug. 18 and went 3-2 with a 3.43 ERA in eight starts, six of which the Rockies won. Pitched in four games in the postseason with no record and a 9.90 ERA. Began this season in the Rockies rotation, went 1-2 with a 6.39 ERA in five starts and was optioned. Initially reported to extended spring training to work on mechanical issues. Made first start for Sky Sox on Sunday, allowing one run and striking out three in five innings in a combined no-hitter against Albuquerque.

Ian Stewart: ‘I’m going to be there’

Third baseman Ian Stewart, the Rockies’ first-round pick in 2003, talks about his waiting game in the minor leagues.

On reaching the majors: “Eventually, I’m going to be there, whether it’s sometime this year or next year or (with) some other team down the road, too. I know the kind of player that I am and know that I’m going to be in the big leagues.”

On having third baseman Garrett Atkins ahead of him: “Atkins is a great player. There’s just no room for me right now . . . But I also look at it as I just barely turned 23 (on April 5), second year in Triple-A. I would think a lot of guys would take that at my age. So I just try not to worry about it.”

On having a career with the Rockies: “I want to be in this organization. I want to play for the Rockies in the big leagues. If that doesn’t happen, then so be it. But it’d be nice to play for the team that you got drafted by.”