Profar’s future bright

Jurickson Profar is 17 years old, looks 12 and plays like he’s 22. Just ballpark figures.

During the brief training camp of the Spokane Indians this week, the kid shortstop from Curacao emerged from a meeting of the position players with his glove perched on his head, a halogen-lamp smile and an air of “What’s not great about this?”

No one could think of anything. Being 17, a millionaire and playing baseball about covers it.

The first discordant note came on Opening Night, when the Indians were routed by Tri-City 6-1, handcuffed by Dust Devils starter Parker Frazier, who was too good for this league two years ago. But it was just the first game of 76, and with the season split in half and the playoff field expanded, barely a sliver was shaved from the home team’s chances – and Profar’s expectations.

“For me, just to play baseball,” he said. “For the team, I want to be a champion.”

He has a history of that sort of thing.

He was a hero for his Caribbean island nation at the Little League World Series – throwing a one-hit, 12-strikeout shutout of Mexico in the semifinals and hitting a two-run homer in the 5-2 championship game victory over Thousand Oaks, Calif.

“All the crowd go ‘U-S-A, U-S-A!’” he said, laughing at the memory. “We had about 15 people going ‘Cur-a-cao! Cur-a-cao!’ But when we got home, it was like we were kings.”

That was all of six years ago. They grow up fast in baseball.

At the beautiful ballyard at the Fairgrounds, they sell sunshine, family fun, lots of ad space, a Jurassic blue mascot and cold beer – mostly in that order. Down near the bottom of the list are future major leaguers, and at the very bottom first-round draft choices.

After assigning one to Spokane in each of the first four years of their marriage, the parent Texas Rangers haven’t sent a first-round pick here since 2006 – not a legit one, anyway. On Friday, the Rangers signed Mike Olt, a slugging third baseman from UConn and a “sandwich” pick in the free-agent compensation pool between rounds 1 and 2.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t a phenom to track this summer.

Profar was, of course, a free agent – Latin American players are not eligible for the draft. He signed at age 16 for first-round money, a reported $1.55 million, after some rather prickly dealings with a number of major league organizations that saw his 93 mph fastball and wanted him as a pitcher or not at all.

“The pitcher, they pitch one day, four days off,” he said. “I’m a guy who wants to play every day and enjoy the game.”

He is hardly pocket lint as a position player. Baseball America has him ranked as the Rangers’ No. 5 prospect already. One scout has said that his “instincts are off the charts.” He didn’t have to do anything spectacular in the field Friday, though he did snag a line drive and double Tri-City’s Chandler Laurent off first base in the first inning. And he produced the Indians’ first hard-hit ball – a double over Laurent’s head in right field in the seventh – and scored Spokane’s only run.

“I think the one thing that sticks out is his maturity on the field,” said Spokane manager Tim Hulett. “He’s self-assured. He’s comfortable.”

Well, he’s played in front of bigger crowds than the 6,511 who turned out Opening Night. In 2005, he got his country back to the LLWS title game with a 12-strikeout semi over Japan, though Curacao would lose the title to Hawaii on a walk-off home run. He was also on the runners-up at the Senior LLWS as a 15-year-old.

“But it’s something beyond that,” Hulett insisted. “If it was a matter of just playing a lot of games, there would be a lot of Profars – and there’s not.”

And yet he is just 17. He will be overmatched some nights – as he was against the 97 mph fastball of 25-year-old Tri-City reliever Casey Weathers. But then, so were the three other guys – yes, four in all – who struck out that inning.

“It’s something I’ve done my whole life,” he said. “When I was 7 years old, I play with 10-year-olds. It’s baseball.”

And if he doesn’t hit, isn’t there an alternative?

“His pitching days are over,” Hulett said. “This kid is a great player. He’s going to go a long way in this game as a position player, no doubt.”

And what’s not great about that?