Neal Fears Throwing Caution to the Wind

Welcome to Rob Neal’s world. It is a world of potential, a world of pressure. And he hopes to bring an end to a world of hurt.

Neal, a former Westlake High outfielder who didn’t think he was good enough for big-time college baseball, is a Division II player and a top professional prospect.

Scouts love his potential. Neal should be elated.

But pressure to perform for scouts despite a nagging shoulder injury has threatened to spoil his junior season at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

His sophomore season was remarkable. He batted .361, hit 10 home runs and drove in 67 runs. He had 84 hits and 136 total bases. All except the batting average were team highs. He was named as first-team All-West Region and second-team All-American.

Entering this season, Baseball America magazine ranked him the No. 1 pro prospect in Division II.

He did one other thing last season. He separated his right shoulder in a collision eight games into the season. He has played in the outfield only six times since, serving primarily as a designated hitter.

Last summer Neal underwent shoulder surgery by Dr. Frank Jobe, who has rebuilt hundreds of arms. But Neal is afraid to test his arm. He’s appeared in 38 games this year, all as designated hitter.

“Some people think I’ve been a baby about it, not going out earlier,” Neal said. “But, hey, it’s my shoulder.”

Even his family has been impatient, Neal said.

“They aren’t sports oriented and they see all this money I can make,” he said. “It gets frustrating.

“Some days I can go out there and throw the heck out of the ball. But I’m afraid one time it’s going to pop out and that will be the end of it. I feel it’s real close to 100%. I have a checkup with Dr. Jobe on Monday. I’d like to hear it from him.”

Meanwhile, the telephone rings daily. Major league scouts are telling Neal, 21, to hustle up. They want to see if he has enough arm strength to make a relay throw.

“I can’t get out there soon enough for these scouts,” he said. “They don’t want to draft a guy who they haven’t seen play defense.”

No one questions Neal’s bat. He has hit since the day he arrived in San Luis Obispo. He didn’t show much power his freshman year--one home run, nine runs batted in--but he hit .373 in 75 at-bats.

He exploded last year, finishing with a .584 slugging percentage. In 233 at-bats, he struck out only 26 times. And he got exposure when the Mustangs reached the Division II College World Series final.

Now, thanks to Baseball America and word of mouth, everybody knows him. Pitchers too. They’re throwing him fewer fastballs.

“Now I get 3-1 changeups,” Neal said. “I see first-pitch sliders instead of fastballs.”

Neal is batting .301, fifth among Mustang starters. (Freshman Andy Hall from Camarillo High leads the team at .349).

But Neal leads the Mustangs in runs (32), hits (41), RBIs (34), triples (five), home runs (four) and total bases (72). He has the same number of strikeouts this year, but in 97 fewer at-bats (136).

“That’s not bad, but I’m capable of a lot better,” he said. “This is the big year. You have much more leverage in the draft as a junior than you do as a senior.

“But now I’m recognized. Being the man on the team, you put a lot more pressure on yourself. I’ve never experienced this before.”

Neal said he was a relative unknown coming out of Westlake, where he was overshadowed by Mike Lieberthal, the third player chosen in the June draft Neal’s junior year. Neal wonders in which round he’ll be chosen.

“I read that I could go anywhere from the fifth to the eighth round. But now I hear lower,” he said.

At this point, Neal said, he is satisfied with what he has proved to himself. He had partial scholarship offers from USC, Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge three years ago.

“I didn’t know if I was good enough to play Division I, so I took the easy way out,” he said. “I don’t regret it. I hit just the same against Division I pitching.”

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Checking the fax: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo junior pitcher R.J. Simone (Hart/Canyons) is 7-2 with a 3.66 earned-run average and three complete games. . . . At Nevada, Shane Slayton (Royal) and Andy Dominique (Alemany) have nearly identical batting statistics. Slayton is batting .333 with 29 runs, 42 hits, six home runs and 36 RBIs. Dominique is batting .328 with 29 runs, 45 hits, six home runs and 34 RBIs. Nevada (29-7) is ranked 20th in the nation.

In softball, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo junior third baseman Kelley Bannon (Camarillo) leads the team in batting (.403), runs (35), hits (58), RBIs (27), doubles (six) and total bases (75). Christie Collier (Thousand Oaks) and Laurie Weidenhaemer (Buena) have chipped in with .281 and .265 averages. The Mustangs are 25-12. . . . Freshman Nicole Ochoa (Thousand Oaks) has four home runs, four doubles and 20 RBIs in 40 games at Long Beach State. . . . Catcher Heather Siegel (Taft) leads eighth-ranked Nevada Las Vegas with a .416 average.