Bruce No. 1 in Baker's eyes
Red-hot rookie is making believers
CINCINNATI - Dusty Baker has trouble containing himself when he speaks about 21-year-old center-field phenom Jay Bruce. And why not?
The kid from Beaumont, Texas, belted a leadoff home run against Justin Masterson last night to get the Reds off on the right foot in a 3-1 win over the Red Sox. So Baker, counting his blessings, said of the homer, "That was primo. That's Rickey Henderson. That's Bobby Bonds."
Bruce was apprised of Baker's comments and he shrugged, obviously feeling a bit embarrassed by the comparisons. Bruce doesn't consider himself a leadoff hitter, and since coming up to the big leagues May 27, the first-round pick (12th overall) in the 2005 draft had hit mostly second ahead of Ken Griffey Jr. Bruce has had 41 at-bats hitting second and only 12 as a leadoff man. In the absence of a true leadoff hitter on the roster, Bruce, who said he last led off as a senior at West Brook High School because "they wanted to get me more at-bats," started hitting first this week.
Getting more at-bats for Bruce may also be what Baker is thinking.
Bruce is batting .382 in his short major league career after hitting .364 with 12 homers and 45 RBIs at Triple A. He went 1 for 4 last night, but what a hit it was. On a night when Masterson went 6 2/3 innings and had Baker, Bruce, and the other Reds raving about his stuff, it was a good thing Cincinnati was able to get on the board early and give starter Aaron Harang, who entered the game 2-9, some confidence.
"The job of a prototypical leadoff hitter is to get on base," said Bruce. "I think everybody knows I'm not a prototypical leadoff hitter. My approach is the same whether I'm hitting second or third. That was huge to get on the board quickly, especially against a team like the Red Sox, trying to get the momentum going our way to help us win."
Bruce, called "The Natural" by many scouts, has off-the-chart skills. He's not a burner by any means, but he can run well enough to steal bases. He can hit for power - projected at 25-35 homers - and for average. The ceiling seems to be very high, so much so the Reds will likely sell off Griffey to the highest bidder. With Bruce's popularity creating excitement, his presence would likely soften the blow of Griffey's departure.
There's no question the Reds will soon rebuild around Bruce. That means Griffey, and maybe power-hitting left fielder Adam Dunn, a free agent after the season, could be traded before the deadline. The moves would bring potential weapons for down the road and free up money that could allow the Reds to dabble in the market.
"Oh, he's the real deal," said Bronson Arroyo of Bruce. "He's as natural a ballplayer as you'll ever see out there. Everything is so smooth and fluid. He's going to be fun to watch as he gets more familiar with the major leagues. He's taken it by storm. No doubt about it."
The Red Sox thought enough of Bruce that with two outs in the seventh, Masterson having retired the first two batters, they decided to bring in lefthander Javier Lopez to face him. Lopez got Bruce to pop to third, but the fact you would even think about bringing in a specialist to face a rookie weeks into his big league career is a sign of major respect.
Bruce's skills have been compared with those of Kirk Gibson, Jim Edmonds, and even Griffey. He seems to take it all in stride.
"I'm just having a good time," he said. "Wherever they want to hit me or play me, I don't care. I just want to play and I just want to win. That's all I want. That's what makes the game fun for me."
Bruce said he felt fortunate to lead off the game with a homer because of Masterson's stuff. "He's got good action to his ball, a funky windup, big guy," said Bruce. "He gave up just three runs, so that wins a lot of games."
When Bruce pounced on the 1-and-2 slider that didn't move much, he thought "at first it had a chance. I thought it was at least a double unless J.D. Drew made a great catch on it or whatever. I was surprised to see it go out."
Bruce was not in the starting lineup Thursday against the Cardinals.
"I didn't ask for [the day off], but I did pinch hit," he said. "Every day, I come to the park ready to play."
Bruce is polite, accommodating, and seems to say the right things in a humble way. Too good to be true? Well, Baker and the rest of the Reds don't think so. They believe Bruce is on his was to superstardom.
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. 