51s will come home with a very different look

Nick Christensen

Monday, Aug. 2, 2004 | 9:34 a.m.

When the Las Vegas 51s return home Thursday, the core of the team that comes back will look quite a bit different from the one that left for an eight-game Midwest road trip last Monday.

Gone are catcher Koyie Hill, pitcher Yhency Brazoban, utilityman Nick Theodorou and outfielder Chin-Feng Chen, and in are catcher Eric Langill and outfielder Henri Stanley.

Saturday's trade deadline was only partially to blame.

Chen and Theodorou are off to compete in this month's Olympic Games in Athens, representing Taiwan and Greece, respectively. Brazoban, leading the team in ERA after being promoted from Double-A Jacksonville July 5, was called up by the Los Angeles Dodgers after they traded reliever Tom Martin to Atlanta.

Hill, Las Vegas' regular catcher for the past year and a half, was traded to Arizona on Saturday as part of a package to acquire catcher Brent Mayne and outfielder Steve Finley.

Now, seldom-used reserve Ryan Kellner will assume the role of lead catcher, after playing in just 154 games in five years at Double-A and Triple-A.

"I had to wait and see what their plans were going to be for me," Kellner said Sunday from Des Moines, Iowa, where the 51s lost to the Cubs 3-2. "You can't have thoughts about things like that. All I knew was something was going to happen."

Speculation about what would happen abounded as the Dodgers pursued Arizona ace Randy Johnson. After Los Angeles dealt all-star catcher Paul LoDuca, outfielder Juan Encarnacion, and setup man Guillermo Mota to Florida on Friday, many believed the players they acquired from the Marlins were to be repackaged and sent to the Diamondbacks for Johnson.

When the Dodgers tried to acquire Colorado catcher Charles Johnson, there was more uncertainty about what would happen with Hill, and further down the ladder, Kellner and Langill. Johnson, however, rejected a trade to the Dodgers, and Los Angeles went after Mayne instead.

Attempts to reach Hill and 51s manager Terry Kennedy were unsuccessful.

But Hill told MLB.com Sunday that through it all, the organization kept him informed of his status.

"When (the Dodgers) did the Lo Duca deal, I was like, 'OK, something's definitely going to happen.' It was dependent on CJ (Charles Johnson)," Hill said. "My question was, if CJ agrees to go, and we don't get Randy (Johnson), would I stay here, and Kennedy said, 'No, you're going, one way or another.' "

Hill was 0-for-4 in his Diamondbacks debut Sunday, allowing one stolen base in Arizona's 10-2 loss at Colorado. With the 51s this year, he hit .286 with 13 home runs, committed five errors, and threw out 28 percent of runners attempting to steal a base.

Kellner, hitting .200 with four home runs in 105 at-bats this year with Las Vegas, is now in the unusual position of not only being the everyday catcher, but also the next guy in line if an injury at the major league level requires a catcher to be called up.

"You like to think that way. You have to think that way," he said. "Of course it's exciting to seem like you're the next guy on the list, but nobody's really said anything to me other than I'm going to get to catch a little bit more."

Langill, Kellner's new backup and previously Las Vegas' bullpen catcher, is 1-for-15 in 10 games this year. This year has been his longest stint above the Class A level. He has a .207 batting average in five years in the minors. He figures to be in the same role Kellner was in 2002, when Kellner saw action in just 11 games at Triple-A after predominantly going up and down between Single and Double-A.

Kellner said that going in on a more consistent basis this year will make playing and staying in shape easier for him.

"The more you catch, you kind of get used to it," he said. "Catching once or twice a week, it puts your body through a strain or a shock. I compare it to lifting weights once a week. You'll get sore every time. If you work out every day, your body gets used to it.

"It's cool to get a chance to string at-bats together. It's been a question mark for me, especially with as few at-bats as I'd had. Hopefully, I can string together a few at-bats, maybe find a groove, and get some knocks in there."

Stanley, an outfielder acquired from the Boston Red Sox, was leading Triple-A Pawtucket with a .299 batting average in 52 games. He is expected to join the 51s in Des Moines as early as today.