Aug. 12, 2009
By: Steve Batterson Quad-City Times
With each swing of the bat, Xavier Scruggs is making up for lost time.
"I hoped to be doing this here a few months ago. It's good to finally be here," the Quad-Cities River Bandits first baseman said.
Off to a .548 start through eight games with Quad-Cities, this week's Midwest League player of the week expected to be wearing a River Bandits uniform at the start of this season.
Fate had another plan.
Scruggs strained a tendon in his left arm late in spring training, delaying his arrival on the River Bandits roster.
"I was doing some early hitting one day in spring practice, and I felt something pop in my bicep. At first, they thought I might have torn it," Scruggs said. "It set me back. I had never been injured before or had any sort of surgery at all. It was frustrating, because I was ready to get this season going."
Quad-Cities manager Steve Dillard liked what he saw from Scruggs during the early weeks of spring training.
"He came awfully close to tearing it, and it wasn't something they didn't mess around with," Dillard said. "There's no question it set him back."
Scruggs realized that the injury also would mean a lengthy rehabilitation at extended spring training and that would likely lead a reassignment to a short-season club when he was ready to play.
"They sent me to Batavia to get some at-bats, get me ready to move forward again. It's been a difficult year. I worked all winter to be ready to go this spring and that quickly, that chance was taken away from me by the injury," Scruggs said.
"The biggest thing I had to do was stay in shape. Physically, I couldn't do much with my left arm. All I could do was rehab and put myself in a position to get back as quickly as a I could."
A 19th-round selection of the Cardinals in the 2008 draft, Scruggs signed with the Cardinals after winning the triple crown and earning player of the year honors in the Mountain West Conference. He hit .379 with 20 homers and 65 RBI as a junior at UNLV.
He hit .219 in 61 games last season at short-season Batavia a year ago and was off to a .234 before being among eight players transferred to the Quad-Cities roster by St. Louis last week.
Scruggs hasn't stopped hitting since.
He has hit safely in each of the eight games he has played since joining the River Bandits and has collected four homers, nine extra-base hits and driven in 17 runs. His effort included two homers in his River Bandits' debut on Aug. 3 and a 5-for-6 day at the plate on Sunday, the first five-hit effort of the season for a Quad-Cities player.
"We didn't expect him to swing the bat the way he has," Dillard said. "He's really turned it loose and the ball really jumps off of his bat. It's good to see, something we need."
Scruggs said he made a few minor adjustments since joining the River Bandits.
"It's easy to see that the pitching is better at this level. That was apparent right away," Scruggs said. "I'm just trying to do the things that I am capable of doing and nothing more. I've always been a guy who has had success driving the ball to the gaps."
Toward that objective, Scruggs works to maintain a relaxed approach at the plate.
"I talked to a lot of guys who came through UNLV who have gone to play pro ball, and they all told me the same thing. They said it was important to just be myself and relax, just take things as they come and I'm trying to do that now," Scruggs said.
Scruggs is trying to soak in as much information as he can from Quad-Cities coaches.
He welcomes the feedback he receives on a daily basis from Dillard and River Bandits hitting coach Joe Kruzel.
"I'm here to do what they want me to do," Scruggs said. "A lot of times, feedback can be negative, but that motivates me to work at my game and get better. Right now, I need to keep doing what I'm doing, hit the ball and stay strong on defense. If I do that, things will work out."
