Prospect can catch more than just bats
The brief bit of internet fame didn’t last. Baseball, especially in the minors, settles back into rote anonymity.
So Luis Guillorme resumes his quest to prove he is more than an unflinching novelty.
The Double-A Binghamton shortstop and second baseman went viral on March 2, after he kept his remarkable cool when a bat helicoptered toward the Mets’ spring training dugout. Miami’s Adeiny Hechavarria lost control of the bat after a swing, and as the dugout scurried in fear, Guillorme shot his arm up to stab it from the air. He held it aloft, his face not betraying an ounce of concern, before coolly tossing it back on the field.
His moment in the Port St. Lucie sun didn’t last.
“It’s nothing crazy,” Guillorme said over the phone this week. “Helped me get my name out there a little bit more.
“I saw the bat coming. It really wasn’t coming as hard as people think, as fast. I just tried to stop it. Once it hit the palm of my hand, it was my reaction to just close it. And it was in there.”
The audible shrug is sensible coming from a player known for his breathtaking plays. Guillorme is a human highlight reel, a magician with a glove (and with bare hands).
“There are guys that have had long careers because of their defense,” said Guillorme, a 2013 10th-round pick out of high school in Florida, who is making his Double-A debut this year. “My favorite player, Omar Vizquel, he had a good bat, nothing special, but look at him. Everyone knows who he is just because he was really good at defense. I’m OK with that.”
Vizquel was more than a glove, and Guillorme is trying to be. The 22-year-old doesn’t hit for a lick of power — he had one home run in 1,457 minor league atbats — but rarely strikes out. He was slashing a respectable .293/.346/.335 entering Saturday.
“I’ve always thought I had a good bat,” said Guillorme, who formed a deadly double-play combination for parts of last year with Amed Rosario for Single-A St. Lucie. “I proved it in high school, and then little by little I’m proving it here. But one thing with my swing is it’s always been inconsistent. I have five good ABs, and the next five different swings. That’s what I really worked on this offseason, to get the same swing every time.”
Still, it is unlikely his bat ever will compare with the behind-the-back flips and bare-handed stabs, even in his own mind.
His goal for this year? “Win the minor league gold glove.”
On Wednesday, when first baseman Ji-Man Choi was activated from the disabled list for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Yankees prospect Mike Ford was sent back to Double-A.
Ford, 24, had reached Triple-A for the first time in his career. In nine games, he batted .306 with four home runs and 10 RBIs.