Widely regarded as the best hitter available in next Tuesday’s draft, Dustin Ackley just might be Seattle-bound. The Mariners have the second-overall pick, and it will be difficult for Jack Zduriencik and company to bypass the sweet-swinging University of North Carolina first baseman-outfielder who is hitting a lusty .417/.520/.781.for the Tar Heels as they prepare for the NCAA Super Regionals. After playing his last regular season game as an amateur, Ackley shared some thoughts on hitting, his future position, and the upcoming draft.
On his reputation of being quiet and businesslike: “Yeah, for the most part. I don‘t say a whole lot, especially out on the field. I’ll talk some, but I’m not one of those guys that’s a loud talker or gets going really good.”
On modeling his game after Pete Rose. “He hustled and that’s one of the things we pride ourselves on here: hustling. Whether you play good, or not, you can still hustle and do things like that.”
On if it is possible to be too intense on a baseball field: “I think sometimes, yeah. I mean, I don’t try to be intense like that, I just try to hustle. I’m maybe not as intense as [Pete Rose] was. It’s more the hustle part of his game that I try to emulate. He was a great hitter — a great left-handed hitter and a good guy to model yourself after.”
On why he is a good hitter: “I make contact a lot and when you do that…when you put the ball in play, good things usually happen. But I really just go up there and hit. I don’t know if there is anything special about me. I’m a little bit of everything, I guess. I’m basically a see-the-ball-hit-the-ball guy.”
On how he would describe his hitting mechanics: “I don’t know. I’ve never thought about that. I don’t work on mechanics; I just go up there and swing the bat. I have nothing mechanical that I work on. When I‘m not swinging the bat well, I’m probably putting pressure on myself because I haven’t been getting hits. I’m probably pressing a little too much.”
On seeing the ball out of the pitcher’s hand: “I can usually recognize a pitch when it’s coming in — when it’s on it’s way. I mean, I just try to recognize a pitch, like anyone else would, and try to hit it.”
On the toughest pitch to hit in baseball: “Probably a good changeup. If somebody has a really good changeup, and you can’t really pick it up, that’s probably it.”
On how he’d describe his defensive game: “It depends on which position you’re talking about. At first base, I’m pretty good. I haven’t made many errors there. In the outfield, I can probably run balls down pretty well because of my speed. I guess that, overall, I’m pretty good defensively.”
On how often scouts address his future position: “It comes up a lot. They want me to be in the outfield, but it’s just one of those things where my team needs me at first base. I’ll play wherever they want me to play.”
On the health of his arm: “It’s doing good. It’s been nine or 10 months since the Tommy John [surgery] so it’s coming along really good.”
On if he cares who calls his name on June 9: “No, I really don’t care. It’s whoever wants me. I just want to play.”
Yup, definitely sounds like someone took the Costner 101 class for answering sports reporters' questions class while at UNC. I sure hope his professor gave him an 'A.'
5 comments have been left for this post.
ladies and gentlemen, we have a front runner for personality of the year. Great insights there.
Not David's issue, but yeah, those are some boring, Nuke LaLoche (sp) responses.