Q & A With Reading 3B Travis Chapman
<a href="http://www.milb.com/qacorner/?id=612" target="_blank">http://www.milb.com/qacorner/?id=612</a>
Tuesday Aug 06, 2002
By Josh Goldfine, SportsTicker Contributing Writer
BOSTON (Ticker) - Last year, he was a punch-and-judy hitter in Class A ball. Now, Travis Chapman of the Philadelphia Phillies organization is just steps away from the big leagues.
Chapman has spent this season, his first in Class AA, among the Eastern League's leaders in both batting and on-base percentage and traveled to Norwich, Connecticut last month as a member of the National League's All-Star squad. After hitting just five homers over his first two pro seasons, Chapman leads the Reading club with 15 home runs this year and is tied for the team lead with 67 RBI.
Chapman went to college at Mississippi State as a 6-1, 170-pound middle infielder. Dedicated weight training as a collegian turned that into a solid 200-pound frame by the time he was done. Described by Mississippi State coach Ron Polk as one of the classiest and hardest-working players he has ever coached, Chapman was selected by the Phillies in the 17th round of the 2000 draft. According to Phillies Assistant General Manager Mike Arbuckle, the selection was made more to fill out a roster spot than in looking at Chapman as an actual big league prospect.
But, two years later, times have changed. With the departure of Scott Rolen to the Cardinals last month, Class AAA third baseman Chase Utley looks to be the heir apparent for the hot corner in Philadelphia. Hitting just .259 this season, Utley, a 2000 first-rounder out of UCLA, has not exactly set the world on fire. But, Utley did skip over Class AA for this season and has moved from second base to third. In fact, Chapman and Utley were teammates while both were with Class A Clearwater last season.
So, for now, the door is open in Philadelphia. With the year that Chapman has had, he certainly can't be left out of the picture. Recently, Chapman spent some time answering questions about how his year has gone in Reading.
Q: You've had a really good year this year. You probably didn't think that you would have this kind of success at the Double A level, did you?
A: No. Not really. But, I come out and play hard, and I prepared myself this offseason to come out and have a good year.
Q: What were your goals for this year?
A: To hit about .320, 15 or 20 home runs and about 80 RBI.
Q: What did you think about when the organization decided to move Utley to third base, were you frustrated?
A: Yeah, well that's something that is just completely out of [my] hands. You look at it and you notice it, but it's something that you don't really deal with or stress over or anything. Regardless of who is ahead of you or who is behind you, you just go out there and do the best that you can personally.
Q: What has been the biggest adjustment from A ball to Double A?
A: The pitchers do have a lot better command. They are able to control two, three or four pitches, throw them where they want to and when they want to in the count, and that's a huge factor.
Q: A lot of people have said that they didn't know that you could drive the ball to the gaps like you have. What did you do over the offseason to prepare yourself physically?
A: We moved outside Los Angeles during the offseason and worked out really hard and learned how to hit home runs and drive the ball. So, that was a big factor.
Q: What did you do specifically to learn how to do that?
A: It's mostly just getting more leverage and getting more backspin on the balls. It was really interesting and really helpful, obviously.
Q: What was your regimen like during the offseason, in terms of your workout?
A: Six days a week. I didn't eat any junk food. I ate a lot of protein and carbohydrates. I ran a couple days a week with a speed coach and then hit probably five or six days a week. So, I was pretty busy.
Q: Did you feel like you were more prepared for spring training than in years past?
A: More prepared as in knowledge about my swing. I always thought that I knew a lot about my swing but I just learned a lot more.
Q: As a minor leaguer, you must see all the controversies that are going on at the major league level. Do minor leaguers talk about that at all?
A: Not really. If I really wanted to I'd go out there and do it, but I choose not to. I figure most of the guys are like that.
Q: Do you think that it puts people on an uneven playing level?
A: Not really. I mean, am I put on an uneven playing level with people who don't work hard in the offseason? It's the same type of thing.
