Wranglers will have new tenant at hot corner

BY JOANNA CHADWICK
The Wichita Eagle

27 March 2007
Wichita Eagle (KS)

Copyright 2007 The Wichita Eagle. All rights reserved.

SURPRISE, Ariz.

Without a doubt, the most-watched spot during the Wranglers' 2006 season was on the left corner, at third base. For that's where Alex Gordon, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2005 draft, played.

Many considered him the future of the Royals, and he consistently displayed his fielding and hitting skills. No surprise, he'll be the Royals' starting third baseman on opening day.

So who could possibly replace him this year with the Wranglers?

That falls to Ed Lucas, an Ivy League guy from Dartmouth who has played one full season at third base.

"He's had a good spring," Royals farm director J.J. Picollo said.

But those are some awfully big shoes to fill for Lucas. Not that he has any intention of trying to outdo Gordon.

"He's obviously a very good baseball player," Lucas said. "He looks like he'll be there a long time. If I need to change positions down the line, that's what needs to be. I've played shortstop, third, first and everything in the outfield."

While he's certainly not one of the Wranglers' top prospects, he's no chump. He was a three-time All-Ivy League player and the 2004 Ivy League Player of the Year.

But he's no Gordon.

Lucas isn't worried about that. He's just enjoying his career, one he never expected to have.

When he was in high school in Port Orange, Fla., the last thing he expected was to have a professional athletic career of any kind. When he signed with Dartmouth, it was because it was the best school that allowed him to play both football and baseball.

And his preferred sport? Football. He was recruited as a quarterback and walked on to the baseball team.

"I know a lot of these guys sign out of high school, even the guys who went to college, they're there for three years and then they sign," Lucas said. "I wasn't considering it at all. I just wanted to go to the best school and have a career."

Even when scouts started showing interest in him, he considered it a lark. "Maybe I can delay going into the real world for a couple years," he said.

He doesn't think that way anymore, though. Now he's interested in how far he can go.

Lucas struggled early with making the routine defensive plays at third base. Oh, he could make that spectacular play, but when he had too much time to throw, he tended to think too much. He's curbed that and has become more consistent.

Most of the notice he's gotten has been for his hitting. Even before Wranglers manager T.J. Tijerina knew who Lucas was, he was impressed with the consistent, hard contact Lucas made with the bat.

Lucas hit well after signing, hitting .312 in 41 games with Idaho Falls in 2004 Rookie League ball. He was called up to low-A Burlington later that year, hitting .202.

By 2005, he was hitting .292 in Burlington, and 2006 he hit .281 at high-A High Desert. Lucas had 66 RBIs, 71 runs, 26 doubles and 19 stolen bases.

While those aren't Gordon numbers, they are solid.

"I've always been a pretty good guy, contact-wise," Lucas said. "I've always had a little problem driving the ball and hitting home runs.... I've come a long way in developing my swing. I have more of a professional approach, where I'll drive the ball into the gap when I need to or go for the home run."

Schedules

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Schedules

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Wranglers will have new tenant at hot corner

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