Haskins is Fuego’s feast or famine slugger
Alabama product has discovered power stroke outside compact confines of Fort Marcy Ballpark
His laid-back style and comfortable Southern drawl make him a calming presence on and off the field.
Put a bat in his hands and have him dig into the batter’s box, he’s anything but Alabama charm and soothing charisma.
Matt Haskins brings with him a ferocious take-no-prisoners approach every time he steps to the plate for the Santa Fe Fuego. It has made him one of the most feared and entertaining hitters in the Pecos League, an expanding collage of small-college standouts who refuse to let their degrees go to work just yet.
A mass communications major at Montevallo (Ala.) University, the 24-year-old is in his second season with Santa Fe. He led the team in home run runs as a Pecos League rookie and finished Saturday’s game against Roswell as the clear leader in long balls with 15.
What’s more, he’s also the team’s career leader in strikeouts (121 and counting) and the league leader in Ks with 51 in just 173 plate appearances this summer.
“Strikeouts come with hitting for power,” he said during Saturday afternoon’s batting practice at Fort Marcy Ballpark. “I know I have my share of them but that’s baseball. You can’t let the strikeouts get to you.”
He’s so dangerous at the plate that Fuego skipper T.J. Zarewicz moved him into the leadoff spot two weeks into the season. He remained there until sliding back into the No. 3 hole.
A leadoff hitter for a time at Montevallo, Haskins never really developed the power stroke he does now until landing in the Pecos League last summer. It’s a metamorphasis that helped him shake off a slow start to lead the team with 22 homers in 2016.
Now with 37 for his career he’s just 10 shy of Santa Fe’s all-time leader, Chevas Numata.
“Obviously I’m a little bit aggressive at the plate,” Haskins said. “If I get the fastball I’m going after it. Ultimately I’m in control of the at-bat until it gets to two strikes. After that, shorten up and do your thing.”
As for the power stroke, Haskins always knew he had it in him. He hit seven home runs his senior year at Montevallo and realized he’d hit his stride when he started mashing moon shots in road games away from Fort Marcy’s ridiculously small confines.
“Not really surprised I found that power and, no, not really surprised I’m leading the league,” he said. “I’m not trying to be arrogant or anything. That’s just my approach every time I go up there.” It’s a simple formula, really. See the ball, attack the pitch and swing as hard as you can.
That also means leaning as far over the plate as possible. A muscular player with calves the size of a professional cyclist, he generates much of his power with a compact swing that starts with his lower body and often ends with much of his torso hovering above the dish.
It has made him an easy target for pitchers. He’s been hit 10 times, ranking third in the league.
“I like to be up on the plate and pitchers like to establish the inside part and I like to be up on the inside,” he said. “I’m not going to move. If you hit me, I’m going to go out there and try and steal second. I get hit a lot but it’s just part of the game.”
Haskins had 16 steals last year and has seven thus far this summer, ranking sixth all-time in Fuego history. It’s a byproduct, he said, of taking a free pass and then taking advantage of it once he reaches first.
As much as he’s done at the plate, he’s done at least as much in the outfield. Entrenched in center, he has made several outstanding plays while mastering Fort Marcy’s confined outfield. His favorite move is baiting baserunners into trying to take an extra bag.
“This field is so small that they see you out there playing deep when, really, you’re not,” Haskins said. “If you can make it look like you’re too far out you can get some guys to round a bag too far. It’s one of my favorite plays.”
Roommates with Fuego teammates David Stone and Erick Magee, he said he likes the mix of personalities on this year’s team — one that has already surpassed last season’s win total.
“Stone, he’s a Cali guy and those Cali guys like to keep it cool,” he said. “Last year you had half the guys down in the bullpen and now we’re all together in the dugout. Road trips are fun now because we’ll hop from one room to another, everyone just spending time together. Having a good time makes all the difference.”
While a return home to Alabaster, Ala., awaits following the season, his time in the high desert is more than enough for Haskins.
“Hey, I’m just happy to be in Santa Fe,” he said. “People are excited about us again.”
FUEGO NOTES
Saturday’s game: Visiting Roswell blasted Fuego pitching in the first five innings, hitting nine home runs and making easy work of emergency starter Zarewicz in a 17-12 win at Fort Marcy Ballpark.
The Invaders spotted Santa Fe a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first but made a mockery of things by scoring four times in the second, three more in the fourth and then 10 in the fifth. They hit seven home runs in the fifth inning alone. They led 17-1 at one point.
Former Fuego pitcher Eric Gleese (3-0) got the win for Roswell. He tossed seven innings, striking out nine and giving up two runs on four hits. He hit one of the seven home runs in the fifth inning.
Kaohu Gaspar went 4-for-5 with six RBI and two home runs for the Invaders. Joey Miller also went deep and finished with four hits.
Santa Fe scored five times in the eighth and five more in the ninth to make things respectable.
Zarewicz (0-1) took the loss. Filling in for Dillon Sunnafrank, he gave up 14 hits and 11 runs before exiting in the fifth. The team’s manager, he was making his first start and fourth appearance of the season.
It was Santa Fe’s fifth straight loss, its second five-game skid this season. The Fuego are now two games behind first-place Roswell in the Mountain Division entering Sunday night’s series finale.
The Invaders have scored 49 runs in the first three games, outscoring the Fuego by an average of more than nine runs a game.
Promotion: Sunnafrank was promoted to the Salina Stockade of the American Association, a higher level of independent ball that includes a Salina roster made up largely of players plucked from Pecos League rosters.
He started the season as the Fuego closer but was recently moved into the starting rotation. He was scheduled to start Saturday’s game, forcing Zarewicz to take the mound in his place.
Sunnafrank was 2-2 in 13 appearances for Santa Fe. He had one save and struck out 34 batters in 23⅓ innings. He posted a 4.24 earned run average.