Uncomfortable Position

A reputation, for better or worse, hangs like a shadow over professional baseball players.

For Bill Scott, that means the scouting report labeling him as a tough out whose ability to hit with two strikes is as impressive as the power stroke that produced 53 home runs in his career at UCLA.

But for Scott, an Alemany High graduate, it means shedding the label of an injury-prone slugger without a position.

Scott played last season at UCLA with a broken bone in his wrist. The injury limited his ability to throw in left field and became so bad that Scott, who was projected as a first-round draft choice, slipped to the eighth round.

That was strike one.

Scott, 21, has started his first professional season at High Desert, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Class-A affiliate in the California League, and despite league-leading numbers early in the season, he has a shoulder injury that has prevented him from playing in the field.

Strike two.

Scott is a long way from facing strike three in professional baseball. His ability as a hitter, gives him a chance to excel.

But a clean bill of health and the ability to play left field or first base will be as invaluable to Scott as the numbers that include a league-leading 21 runs batted in.

“I know my reputation,” Scott said. “Last year, I didn’t want to tell anyone about the injury. It was my draft year. That was a mistake.”

In professional baseball, reputations can prove as difficult to shake as nagging injuries. But Scott thinks a solid season will resolve the questions that dropped him from a can’t-miss prospect to a man without a position.

“For me to move up, I have to play a position,” said Scott, who had shoulder surgery in high school.

“I really wanted my first year in pro ball to be one where I could get comfortable and show that last year I was hurt. Hitting is something I’ve always been able to do. I need to show that I can be a complete player.”

Scott has been used exclusively as a designated hitter, but Manager Frank Kremblas of High Desert hopes to use Scott in left field and may experiment with him at first base.

“They messed up his [throwing] mechanics in college,” Kremblas said. “The big thing is that we get his throwing ability back to where it needs to be. It’s not like playing a position is super important right now, but [the Milwaukee] organization will have to decide what position he can play for him to steadily advance.”

That makes this season crucial for Scott. Despite a .392 batting average that is fifth in the California League, it won’t be easy to reach the major leagues as a designated hitter in the farm system of a National League team.

“That’s why this year is important,” Scott said. “Last year was a big struggle. Every game, I’d tape up the wrist as tight as I could and take painkillers, and it was still difficult. By the end of the season, I couldn’t throw a ball.”

Scott didn’t sign until September and took the winter off. With his wrist healed, he developed bursitis in his shoulder blade lifting weights in spring training.

That made him a designated hitter at High Desert and brought back questions of last season, when Scott hit .421 and finished his career as UCLA’s career batting leader with a .389 average.

“It’s my understanding that they put him in left field in college and told him to get the ball back to the infield any way he could,” Kremblas said.

But Scott refused to take himself out of the lineup.

“I shouldn’t have dealt with it the way I did in college,” he said. “But being a guy without a position is not something that I’ll let get in my way in pro ball.”

Once Scott has a position, he could become one of the organization’s top prospects. Only five of Milwaukee’s top 30 prospects, as judged by Baseball America, are outfielders.

He has the best power of any player the organization drafted last year.

His best ability is his knowledge of the strike zone and the capability to hit when behind in the count.

“When he’s down 1 and 2 or 0 and 2, you’ll see him widen his stance and make changes,” said pitcher Tanner Eriksen of Lancaster, who pitched at USC.

“It’s obvious that he has a great chance to play in the big leagues because he’s got such a great approach in addition to his talent.”

Scott had a run-scoring single in the first inning Wednesday night in a 5-2 victory against Lancaster.

But he knows he has to show the Brewers he can be more than be a designated hitter.