Wednesday, July 21, 2004 | 9:46 a.m.
Joe Thurston's season could pretty much be summed up by one play Tuesday -- a pinch-hit line drive hit hard to left field that, if it was about a foot higher, would have been an RBI single.
Instead, it was caught, and another precious at-bat for Thurston was gone. Thurston wound up being a nonfactor in the Las Vegas 51s' 12-11, 11-inning win against the Tucson Sidewinders Tuesday night at Cashman Field.
Two years after he was all but penciled in to be the Dodgers' everyday second baseman, Thurston's a rare sight in the 51s' lineup, the hype of 2002 all but gone in this last year of his contract with Los Angeles.
He has played in just 63 of Las Vegas' 96 games this year, and although he missed nearly a month while for the most part sitting on the bench with the Dodgers, the number of his at-bats has dropped dramatically. This will be the first season in which Thurston will not have at least 500 at-bats, and he has gotten to the plate just seven times in the past seven games. He's hitting a career-low .244.
Which isn't to say the year has been a waste for the one-time top Dodgers prospect. Defensively, 2004 has been the best of his three years at Triple-A. It's the result of a conscious effort, particularly after Thurston has had three springs now to pick the brains of Dodgers middle infielders Alex Cora and Cesar Izturis.
"You take care of the ball, and minimize mistakes," Thurston said. "It's all about knowing the hitter."
Defense or not, though, Thurston is simply not living up to the expectations that were set after he hit .334 in 2002 and was named by Baseball America as the Triple-A player of the year. His 196 hits and 13 triples in 2002 were franchise records, and looked like enough to get him to the majors in 2003.
But he struggled that March, and saw Izturis and Cora take the regular roles with the Dodgers.
He hit .293 for the 51s in 2003 and might have been headed for a backup role with the big club in 2004.
But new Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta acquired shorstop Jose Flores and second baseman Antonio Perez in March, and Thurston's future with the Dodgers became more clouded. Then Perez's emergence as arguably the 51s' best player has essentially forced Thurston into a pinch-hitter's role.
"Joe hasn't been in the lineup," manager Terry Kennedy said. "We've got other guys playing a little better."
When Thurston was up with the Dodgers in May, he did get a chance to talk to manager Jim Tracy about his place with the Dodgers.
"He was very good about talking to me," Thurston said. "He said it's one of those years, probably going to be going up and down a lot."
His time with the Dodgers -- he went 3-for-9 in 10 games -- threw Thurston out of any rhythm he was developing, he said.
Kennedy said part of it is simply that pitchers wised up.
"It appears that pitchers made adjustments and Joe hasn't adjusted back," Kennedy said.
After three years, Thurston has picked up the Triple-A mentality of not minding what decisions others are making, but focusing on what he can do to improve. And for now, he'll take any improvement he can get.
"I'm not doing well right now, and everybody knows it, but I know it more than anyone," he said. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish. If I can finish from where I'm at now five points higher, or 100 points higher, if it's five points, I still got five points higher. I go out and work hard every day."
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