Sleeper Watch

It’s the stretch run of the season, and every game counts. What could be more natural than to place your team’s fate into the hands of a .227 hitter with less power than a double-A battery?

No, recent call-up Freddy Guzman won’t help you in the home run department. In two minor league seasons, the 23-year-old outfielder has knocked the ball out of the park just five times. Needless to say, playing at Petco Park won’t turn him into a longball threat. Batting leadoff in San Diego’s lineup won’t help his RBI numbers, either.

Nor is the switch-hitting Guzman likely to give your team’s batting average a boost. He did hit .292 at AAA Portland this year, improving from a combined .280 at three levels last season, but he’ll need time to adapt to big league pitching.

But none of that matters. When you add Freddy Guzman to your lineup, all you want is speed.

Guzman began his pro career by swiping 49 bases in 70 A-ball games at Lake Elsinore last year. Upon being promoted to AA Mobile, he kept right on running, nabbing 38 bases in just 46 games. Add to that three steals in a two-game call-up to AAA, and he finished the 2003 campaign with 90 SB in 118 games. He was caught just 17 times, an 84.1% success rate.

The 2004 season brought more of the same. Seventeen SB in 35 AA games. Forty-eight in 66 games at the AAA level. And now, three steals in his first nine big-league contests. The future should be no different: expect him to continue to see the green light often as the Padres take a good look at the player they believe to be the team’s future in center field.

Need speed? Grab Freddy Guzman.