SAN DIEGOJosh Vitters hadnt watched the play that put him on SportsCenter.
Vitters dove to his right and fully extended his body, sliding over the third-base line. He hopped up and fired to first to beat Cameron Maybin, who was fast enough to steal 40 bases last season for the San Diego Padres.
That was only the first groundball Vitters had ever seen in the big leagues, and that reaction in the sixth inning on Monday night loosened him up a little bit. It seemed like an answer to all the questions the Cubs have about his defense.
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That made the highlight reel, but the more revealing moment probably came hours earlier, when he approached third-base coach Pat Listach and asked to take extra groundballs before batting practice.
Vitters didnt realize that you had to clear it first with stadium officials to reserve the field in advance. But there he was on Tuesday at Petco Park, taking groundballs hit by Listach, and thats essentially where hell be some five hours before every game the rest of this season.
I know that my hittings going to be there regardless, Vitters said. My defense is whats going to take me to the next level.
Theyve told me what I need to do. So Im going to do everything and more and see what happens. (Lets) see where my abilitiesand the skills that I can learn up heretake me.
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Thats the entire point of the final eight weeks of the season, whether or not Vitters finds himself in the lineup that night. He came off the bench on Tuesday and collected his first big-league hit, a two-run double in a 7-4 loss to the Padres.
Baseball America ranked Vitters as the best pure hitter among high school players in the 2007 draft, and it has been a slow, steady climb for the No. 3 overall pick since then.
Vitters will turn 23 later this month, and though he didnt look at this as a make-or-break year, he did wonder what the regime change at Clark and Addison could mean for him, where he fit into Theo Epsteins rebuilding plan.
I thought about it a little bitIm not their guy, Vitters said. They didnt pick me or maybe dont even like me. But that was before I even met the people. It was a great experience getting to meet them at the Cubs Convention and speaking (directly) to them. They made me feel really comfortable and really didnt put any pressure on me. I think thats what allowed me to excel and play up to this level.
Vitters went out and developed into a Pacific Coast League All-Star in his first season on the Triple-A level, hitting .304 with 17 homers, 68 RBI and an .869 OPS at Iowa.
By Sunday, Vitters was running on no sleep and flying with Brett Jackson from Des Moines to Dallas to Los Angeleswe were kind of like zombies on the planeand making their big-league debut at Dodger Stadium.
That was pretty neat, Jackson said. Weve come up through the minors together and I like to say Ive taken him under my wing as my little brother. But I had some stuff to learn from him hitting this year. Man, that guy can hit.
Vitters was only 17 years old when the Cubs drafted him out of Cypress High School in Orange County, Calif. The Cubs felt like he would benefit from his friendship with the self-assured Jackson, who is almost a year older and went to Cal-Berkeley.
Vitters is also tight with Anthony Rizzo. As teenagers, they played together on an elite travel team in national tournaments. Back then, Vitters was a bigger name than Rizzo, who fell to the Boston Red Sox in the sixth round.
Vitters understands the changing nature of expectations, how you should never believe the hype, whether youre a stud or a bust. Cubs fans keep gazing into the future and breathlessly awaited the arrivals of Rizzo and Jackson. The future is now, so its time to go to work in an empty stadium.
It sounds like its just going to be like that until we have a contending team, Vitters said. Theyre always going to want the next best hot thing thats coming upuntil we can put together a team thats going to be winning lots of ballgames.