BASEBALL / JEFF FLETCHER : He Struck a Winning Formula

Roland De La Maza won’t go so far as to say he thought pro baseball was easy, but he couldn’t have thought it was that difficult, either.

After coming out of Cal State Sacramento in June as the 14th-round selection of the Cleveland Indians, De La Maza won his first eight decisions for Watertown, N.Y., in the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League.

“I wasn’t thinking it was easy,” he said. “I was just throwing all three of my pitches for strikes. There’s a lot of guys here who throw hard but not strikes. If you throw strikes, a lot of these hitters will get themselves out.”

Since the hot start, De La Maza, a right-hander from St. Genevieve High, has come back to earth. He lost two in a row. Last Sunday he lasted only six innings and lost, 13-2, to Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Nothing to worry about, right? After all, he is 8-2 with a 2.39 earned-run average. He has still allowed only 59 hits in 81 1/3 innings, with 11 walks and 59 strikeouts. Everyone is due for a bad outing now and then.

“That’s what I keep hearing,” De La Maza said, seemingly not comforted by the advice.

The Indians don’t seem concerned. After the loss to Niagara Falls, De La Maza, 21, learned he has been invited to fall instructional league, reserved for the best prospects.

“He’s been a pleasant surprise,” said Dan O’Dowd, the Indians’ director of baseball operations. “He was drafted relatively low, but he’s really opened everyone’s eyes. He’s played better than his reports (from before the draft) have read.”

Under a normal progression, De La Maza probably would pitch next season in Class-A Kinston, N.C., but injuries to the Indians’ top pitching prospects have changed the outlook in the farm system.

Julian Tavarez, 20, is in the Cleveland rotation after pitching in the rookie-level Appalachian League last season and earlier this season at Kinston. Albie Lopez, 22, soared from Class-A Columbus (Ga.) last season to the Cleveland rotation this season.

“Hopefully, those are exceptions to the rule,” O’Dowd said. “We don’t like our kids skirting through the system that quickly. But we’ll just let ability dictate.”

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Ups and downs: It’s been one of those seasons for Tim Laker, a former Simi Valley High catcher. April 5, he was the Montreal Expos’ opening-day catcher. April 15, he was sent down to triple-A Ottawa. May 21, he was recalled to Montreal. July 10, days before the Expos played in Dodger Stadium, he was sent down again. Aug. 6, back to the Expos. Monday, back to Ottawa.

Laker, 23, was speeding toward the majors last fall. The Expos called him up from double-A Harrisburg, Pa., and he hit .217 in 46 major league at-bats. Still, the club made him one of 15 players it protected before the expansion draft in November. Laker then started behind the plate against the Reds on opening day, but 10 days later he was in the minors.

“That was real disappointing,” said Laker, who has hit .198 in 86 at-bats with the Expos this season.

During Laker’s most-recent 10-day stretch in the majors, he played in two games and caught four innings.

“It’s been hard to get anything accomplished this year,” Laker said. “It’s been a frustrating year to say the least.”

Laker, who is batting .242 in 41 games at Ottawa, remains optimistic about his future, though.

“From what (Expos’ officials) say, they are still looking at me as being the catcher of the future,” he said.

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Casey at . . . first?: Casey Burrill joined the short-season Idaho Falls Braves this summer expecting to be the team’s catcher. But Burrill, a standout catcher at Hart and USC, has spent most of his time as a designated hitter and at first base.

“This was a surprise to me,” Burrill said of the position change.

According to Burrill, the team switched him not because of concerns about his surgically repaired throwing shoulder but because the organization wanted to get a look at 19-year-old catching prospect Jose Rodriguez.

The position switch has not affected Burrill at the plate. In his first 37 games, he hit .311 and drove in 24 runs. He was second on the team with five home runs, including three notable ones.

In early July, Burrill hit the first home run off the new scoreboard at McDermott Field in Idaho Falls. Burrill also hit the only two home runs this season that cleared an advertisement on the left-field fence for a local sporting goods store. The store offers fans gift certificates when players hit home runs over its ad.

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Short hops: David Landaker, the Astros’ second-round pick out of Royal last June, continues to to be slowed by injuries. Landaker, a shortstop, did not play last season because of shoulder problems. He played in extended spring training this year, batting .252 in 126 at-bats. In late June, he joined the Astros’ short-season team in Kissimmee, Fla.

But, after collecting 10 hits in his first 15 at-bats, Landaker suffered a hip flexor injury, which he is still rehabilitating in Kissimmee. Landaker is expected to be back in time to play in the fall instructional league.