MINOR LEAGUE REPORT / JIM LINDGREN : Strikeouts Are a Problem, but Plantier Still on Way Up

Astonishing as it may seem to anyone in the Boston Red Sox minor league system, Phil Plantier struck out only one time in three years at Poway High.

Once in 200 or so at-bats . . . by Mission Bay’s Sean Rees, a left-hander who led the nation in strikeouts this year at Arizona State.

Compare that to the 122 strikeouts Plantier accumulated last year in his third Class A season.

“Things have changed,” Plantier said.

They have, but while Plantier is making far less contact, he remains an effective and feared hitter.

In 1989, Plantier, a left-handed hitting outfielder, just missed the triple crown in the Carolina League with a league-leading 27 home runs and 105 runs batted in. His .300 average was third.

Those numbers earned him the league’s most valuable player award, and Baseball America selected him its Class A player of the year.

They also earned him a spot on Boston’s 40-man roster during spring training, and he hit .500 (six for 12) with six RBIs.

The shortened spring and Boston’s strong outfield may have hurt his chances, but even Plantier, 21, admitted he was still a bit green for the major leagues.

After a relatively slow start this season for Pawtucket in the triple-A Alliance League, Plantier has a league-leading 15 home runs and 41 RBIs. His average is down--.240--but it’s on the rise.

“He’s doing a little bit more than we expected,” Pawtucket Manager Ed Nottle said. “He’s starting to get into a little better swing as far as his average. He’s picked that up. Earlier in the year, he was leading the league in home runs and RBIs with a .205 average.”

Is he ready for the majors now?

“I think it’s a little premature to be talking about Boston,” Nottle said. “Coming out of A ball, I don’t think the major league club has him in their immediate plans just yet.”

Said Plantier, “Really, all you can do is go out and play and put up some numbers. You can’t worry about those things.”

Coming out of Poway, Plantier, who had lived in the North County city for all but the first six months of his life, had his choice of playing professionally or for universities such as USC, Arizona State, Fullerton or Loyola Marymount.

He batted .390 as a sophomore, .488 as a junior and .585 with nine homers and 39 RBIs as a senior in 1987, when he was selected the San Diego Section player of the year. The average was the third-highest in section history at the time.

Drafted in the 11th round, he chose to play for the Red Sox.

“I’m glad I made the decision to sign out of high school,” he said. “(Going to college) would have just delayed things. I would not be where I am today.”

Plantier might not have said that after his first two seasons in Class A. He batted just .175 and .240, with a total of six home runs and 41 RBIs. And the strikeouts were mounting at an alarming rate.

“The biggest adjustment I had to make was the old aluminum bat-to-wood bat switch. Things that worked with the aluminum bat don’t with the wood bat. The sweet spot on a wood bat is lot smaller than an aluminum,” he said.

Plantier eventually got the hang of wood. He still struck out a lot, but he began hitting for average and power.

“He had a hell of a lot a problems with pitches out of the strike zone,” Nottle said. “But he’s a power hitter, and he’s going to strike out a lot.”

As long as the long ball is there, Plantier can live the strikeouts.

“I feel I’m improving,” he said. “Even since the first month of the season, I feel I’ve come a long way.”

In 1987, San Diego State had its worst overall record in 12 seasons at 32-28-1 (.533), but five pitchers from that team are still pitching professionally.

Mike Erb of the Edmonton Angels has made the most progress, 3-2 with a 3.86 earned-run average in triple A.

In double A, Rich Holsman is 5-3 with a 2.51 ERA for the Wichita Padres and Jim Campbell is 3-3 with a 2.91 ERA in Memphis.

In Class A, Scott Middaugh has no record and a 2.22 ERA for the Sarasota White Sox, and Dave Riddle is 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA for the Frederick Orioles.