USC’s Baker Works His Way Back Into Form

Derek Baker isn’t all the way back yet, which, according to Baker, is more fact than feeling.

Baker, USC’s freshman third baseman from Tustin High, said he’s not quite the player he was before injuring his shoulder. He can’t hit the ball where he pleases, formerly a regular occurrence, and his defensive skills aren’t at peak level.

Even so, Baker is playing a lot better than he was only a few weeks ago. This, he said, is cause for optimism.

“I can’t say I’m back to form, but it feels like I’m making tremendous progress,” Baker said. “I wasn’t performing up to what I expected and other people expected.

“My confidence was real low for a while. But now it seems like I’m finally getting back to where I thought I should be.”

Baker is batting .277 with three home runs and 15 runs batted in. He has an 11-game hitting streak and has showed flashes of his pre-injury talent during the last month.

“He’s been quite successful over the last four or five weeks,” Trojan Coach Mike Gillespie said. “I think he’s very steadily made the transition, and he’s adjusted well to this level. But the injury certainly interrupted his transition.”

It didn’t appear to be much at first.

Baker began experiencing pain in his right shoulder during the summer but dismissed it as normal soreness, he said. The pain increased during fall workouts at USC and it became almost unbearable early in the season, when Baker finally wised up and consulted a doctor.

Tendinitis was the problem and rest was prescribed. But the pain didn’t subside, and Baker needed a cortisone shot that sidelined him for five games.

Of course, this isn’t how major prospects expect to begin their careers. For the first time, Baker, who was listed as the country’s 41st-best college prospect by Baseball America last season, was on the bench and low on confidence.

“I was greatly worried about him,” Gillespie said. “(The injury) was severe enough that he simply wasn’t able to play. It did take a little toll on him.”

Baker then did the unthinkable: questioned his ability.

“My confidence was real low there for a while,” he said. “My arm wasn’t feeling well and I was still playing. I had to make throws and it hurt.”

USC also struggled at the time, which only adds to Baker’s frustration. The Angels chose him in the 12th round of major league baseball’s amateur draft last season, but he opted to sign with the Trojans.

“I was disappointed after the draft because I assumed I would go higher,” he said. “Once I got to (USC), I felt I made the right decision. But with the injury and the team not doing well, there were doubts.”

But no longer.

Baker’s hitting streak coincides with the Trojans’ 10-game winning streak. USC (31-15, 13-8 in the Pacific 10 Conference) has 13 victories in its last 14 games and is ranked No. 7 by Baseball America.

“He’s comfortable and he’s been a significant part of (USC’s recent play) on both offense and defense,” Gillespie said. “There haven’t been any big, big games, but he’s getting his hits and he’s played very consistent on defense.”

Also, Baker is growing up. He already had the size of a man (6 feet 2, 220 pounds), but now, Baker said, he’s developing the mind of one too.

“I’ve learned a great deal this year,” Baker said. “I never had to deal with this type of adversity.

“Before, I could just go out and play. Now I have to prepare, I have to have a mental approach to the game. I feel I can really use this to build on.”

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Almost perfect: Fresno State sophomore Robyn Yorke, an All-American right fielder, has at least one hit in 45 of 48 games.

A Times’ all-county selection at Marina High, Yorke is second in the nation with a .503 batting average. She had a 35-game hitting streak this season (Feb. 12 through April 1), which is second on the NCAA’s all-time list.