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Justin Maxwell went all out to catch Brandon Inge's fly ball during Nationals' game with the Tigers Tuesday. |
BY RICH CAMPBELL
VIERA, Fla.--
Dozens of Washington Nationals minor league players streamed onto the practice fields at the team's training complex yesterday while the Florida sun was still rising. There were no autograph seekers, no star-struck fans and no fanfare. It was hardly the setting in which you would expect to find a player fresh off an impressive performance on national TV.But here was Justin Maxwell, practicing bunting in front of only a handful of players' relatives. Unless you had seen it for yourself, or on ESPN, you never would have known that he hit a home run, made a dazzling diving catch and threw out a runner at home plate against the vaunted Detroit Tigers less than 24 hours earlier.
Yesterday's three hours in the spotlight, followed by a return to the obscurity of minor league camp, is just the latest bit of excitement and change in a seven-month stretch in which Maxwell's personal life and professional life have evolved.
As he chomped on a roast beef sub during his lunch break yesterday, Maxwell compared his life now to that of a year ago, when he was just an outfield prospect with a bare professional resume.
"It's different, to say the least," he said.
A smile crossed his face as he spoke, and why shouldn't it? Life is good.
In his first full season as a professional last year, he was the only player in all of minor league baseball to hit 25 homers, 25 doubles and steal 25 bases. For that, he was rewarded with the team's minor league player-of-the-year award and a September call-up to the majors. He didn't disappoint.
Maxwell hit .269 in 26 at-bats, including a pinch-hit grand slam in his third at-bat. He also homered off Tom Glavine, a future Hall of Famer, in the final week of the season against the New York Mets in a Nationals' victory that dimmed the Mets' playoff hopes.
"You can see what he did when he was able to play a full year," said Bobby Williams, Nationals director of player development. "It was nice for him to get a taste in September and get a little success and see what it's like in the big leagues and how players approach the game."
Things got only better for Maxwell in the offseason. He played in the Arizona Fall League, a developmental league comprised of many of baseball's top prospects.
In January, he married his college sweetheart, Loren, and the two are expecting their first child in October.
"I definitely feel like I'm growing up," Maxwell said. "It's a very exciting time in my life."
Maxwell's promising September showing with the Nationals forced the team to consider starting him in the big leagues this season. However, he wasn't fazed when Washington traded for young outfielders Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes this offseason, nor when he was reassigned to minor league camp this spring
Not surprisingly for a guy who got into Harvard, he kept things in perspective.
"I sat back and thought about it, and last year was my first full year of playing pro ball," said Maxwell, who was drafted in the fourth round in 2005. "I only played [Single-A] last year. I know they want me to get experience, so I'm just trying to make the most of the opportunities I get this spring and trying to do my best.
In fact, Maxwell is still making up for lost time in his development. A broken right arm in 2004 and a broken hamate bone in his left wrist in 2005 limited him to a total of only seven games during his last two seasons at Maryland.
He is still refining his play in the outfield, specifically the routes he takes when tracking balls. At the plate, he is focused on not swinging at pitches out of the strike zone and driving pitches that are left over the plate. Nationals manager Manny Acta was particularly impressed with Maxwell's decision Tuesday not to swing at three straight sliders from Detroit's Jeremy Bonderman.
"We like Max, everybody knows how much we like him," Acta said. "We think he can come quick. He showed his maturity here when we have given him the chance to play every day. We continue to be impressed by how he goes about his business."
Considering Maxwell's play against Detroit--or his home run in yesterday's minor league game against Houston--it's hard not to be impressed. For now, he'll continue to take the field in the quiet atmosphere of minor-league camp before heading to Double-A Harrisburg to start the season. But if his 2008 campaign is anything like last year, it could be the last spring he spends there.
"If he has a good first half," Williams said, "anything is possible."
Rich Campbell: 540/735-1974
Email: rcampbell@freelancestar.com
