Rookie steps up at key time
Hometown outfielder wielding hot bat since stepping in for departed MVP
Griffin Keller is the first to admit he had some “big shoes to fill.”
When fellow outfielder Justin Erlandson earned a pro contract late last month, the Western Major Baseball League’s Regina Red Sox needed someone to fill the massive void left by their most valuable player.
Fortunately for the team, Keller — all 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds of him — casts a pretty large shadow of his own.
“He’s a big, strong kid and has a ton of confidence in himself as a ballplayer,” said Red Sox head coach Mitch MacDonald.
“He was doing well for us (as a fourth outfielder). Then, like so often in sports, something happens and you’re given a shot that you maybe weren’t entirely expecting, but it’s your job as an athlete to take it and run with it. He’s just playing good baseball for us.”
The loss of Erlandson was still a huge blow to the Red Sox, who are in the midst of a best-of-five Eastern Division semifinal against the Weyburn Beavers.
Erlandson, an American import, led the club in batting average (.385), hits (67) and runs scored (56) despite leaving with 10 games left in the regular season.
Keller has proven to be no slouch, either, compiling a .328 average in 125 plate appearances. He carried that momentum into the playoffs, going 2 for 4 with two RBIs in Tuesday’s series opener against Weyburn — a 6-2 loss.
“It has been a lot of fun,” said Keller. “I’ve learned a lot from both of our coaches, Mitch and Geoff (MacDonald). I’ve really enjoyed getting a bigger opportunity.”
Especially since it came with the Red Sox.
“As a little kid, me and my dad would always come to the games,” said the 19-year-old rookie from Pilot Butte. “I always wanted to play for the Red Sox.”
Keller is coming off his first season at Northern Oklahoma College in Enid, hitting .325 with six home runs and 66 RBI in 48 games. He was recruited by the school after undergoing Tommy John surgery to repair a torn elbow ligament.
The injury occurred in the spring of 2015 while he was pitching for the midget AAA Regina Athletics. Players often need a full year to come back from Tommy John surgery, but it’s no longer considered career threatening.
“It seemed like a long time but, looking at it now, it wasn’t too bad,” said Keller, who started swinging a bat about eight months later.
“It was tough at first. Everything was kind of flashing through my head like, ‘I don’t know if I’ll recover and be the same player as I was ( before).’ But after talking to other people who have had the surgery, they kind of gave me a little more confidence. It’s not something that people are scared of anymore. It’s just something that happens to a lot of players and just about everybody recovers fully from it.
“Once I noticed myself getting stronger ... all my worries went away.”
Keller returned in time to play DH for his high school team at Martin Academy. He began playing the field about nine or 10 months after surgery.
“After I tore it, I decided I was just going to focus on my hitting so I became an outfielder full time,” he said.
“I’m kind of lucky it happened when it happened. I just had to miss the rest of that summer, but it didn’t really jeopardize my Grade 12 year or any of my college career.”
It also didn’t impede his opportunity with the Red Sox, who are slated to return home for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday (7 p.m., Currie Field).
Game 4 (if necessary) would be played Friday in Regina.