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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Duo drinks it in


Former outfielder Jonathan Greene is learning the nuances of the catching position.
 (The Spokesman-Review)
Stefanie Loh Staff writer

Two months into the season and Spokane’s two North Carolina natives are already missing their sweet tea. “There’s no sweet tea out here at all,” third baseman Kenny Smith lamented. “Sure, you can put sugar in tea, but it’s just not the same as your mam makes it. You can’t get it anywhere.”

Catcher Jonathan Greene readily agreed.

“Sweet tea’s unbelievable,” he said in his slow drawl, a matching slow grin spreading across his face.

Sweet tea woes aside, the former Western Carolina teammates have positively affected the Indians’ lineup this season.

Greene, one of three catchers on the roster, has been a formidable force at the plate and behind it.

With a little less than half the season remaining, Greene has established himself as the Indians’ big hitter. He leads the Northwest League with a .600 slugging percentage and is second in home runs (seven) and runs batted in (33).

That batting prowess has helped him adapt to his new position. Although he was selected as a catcher in the eighth round of the 2007 draft, Greene played mostly in the outfield in college.

Greene is not completely new to catching. He played catcher and pitcher in high school and also caught an occasional game for the Catamounts.

But catching at the professional level involves a steep learning curve, because instead of relying on the manager to tell them which signals to give the pitcher, catchers call their own games.

Greene’s still working on that part of his baseball repertoire.

“If you watch Jonathan catch, you can see he has catching ability,” said Indians manager Tim Hulett. “For him, it’s going to be about learning the whole game of catching and calling pitches.

“But Jonathan’s a great hitter, so he knows what good hitters are looking for. I think as much as anything, if a guy can hit, he’ll know how to call pitches.”

Greene has embraced the change.

“When they drafted me, they told me I had to switch to catcher,” Greene said. “And, yes, it’s a little bit different from the outfield, but it’s fun. I enjoy it because you’re doing something every pitch of the game.”

Greene has started more games this season than the team’s other catchers, partly because the coaches want to give him the time he needs to develop his pitch-calling ability.

“Probably his biggest adjustment is understanding situational stuff in the infield and having to be in charge,” Hulett said. “Because, really, your catcher’s like a quarterback – a good catcher knows everybody else’s responsibility in the infield. So we just need to get him more time catching.”

With player development being the primary objective of minor league baseball, Hulett said the player sitting in the dugout is not necessarily there because he’s performed poorly on the field.

Smith came to the Indians off a spectacular senior season with the Catamounts during which he was named Southern Conference player of the year and attained Western Carolina’s 13th Triple Crown by leading the team with a .390 batting average, 84 RBIs and 20 homers.

In Spokane, Smith switched from second base to third base – a small change in relation to Greene’s leap from outfield to catcher – and quickly picked up the nuances of his new position.

“The ball gets to you a little quicker at third,” Smith said. “There’s the ‘hot corner.’ I’m starting to learn why they call it that.”

At the beginning of this season, Smith got most of the starts at third base – where he splits time with Johan Yan. But as the season progressed, Yan found his way to the starting lineup more and Smith started spending more time in the dugout.

Yet, the affable redhead takes it all in his stride.

“The minor leagues (are) developmental. The idea is to give everybody a chance to play,” Smith said. “Johan’s a great player, so it’s fun to get to watch him and get to sit back and watch the game sometimes, too. I’ve got no complaints at all.”

Hulett sees Smith as a sort of mentor for the maturing Yan.

“Kenny’s a guy that really protected Johan early in the season, because he was a little more polished and could emotionally handle adversity at that point in the season,” Hulett said. “Whereas we’re trying to walk Yanni through and make sure he got off on the right foot.

“Kenny’s had a lot of good at-bats and he’s a very good hitter. But Johan’s a big prospect for us. He’s 6 feet, 3 inches tall, good hands, big arms. And he’s only 18 while Kenny’s 23, so that’s why he’s getting a little more time now.”

Smith has been good at capitalizing on his opportunities.

Last week in the Indians’ 8-4 win against the Everett AquaSox, Smith provided a sixth-inning, two-run homer that gave the team a little breathing room in what initially looked to be a close game.

The following night, Smith again sparked the offense into action with a fifth-inning line drive that got Spokane’s bats going and eventually resulted in six runs.

“Pro ball’s everything I expected,” said Smith, who played three seasons and earned his undergraduate degree in accounting at North Carolina–Wilmington before transferring to Western Carolina to play his final year of eligibility and go to grad school. “Long days, you’re at the ball club all day, not much time for anything else, on the bus a lot.”

“Top pitching prospect Neftali Feliz has joined the Indians after being part of the big trade that sent Mark Teixeira from the parent-club Texas Rangers to the Atlanta Braves.

Feliz was 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA for Atlanta’s rookie team, Danville.

In another roster move, Spokane’s Billy Killian was traded to the Chicago White Sox organization. To fill his spot, the Rangers promoted catcher Kevin Gossage, nephew of former major league closer Goose Gossage.