Manager’s message: Everyone is a prospect

Nick Christensen

Thursday, April 7, 2005 | 9:28 a.m.

Long before he recorded his 1,442nd at-bat in a Las Vegas 51s uniform, observers began saying that Joe Thurston wasn't a prospect.

In his breakout 2002 season in Las Vegas, Thurston hit .332 and looked to be headed straight for the major leagues. But after a sluggish spring, Thurston came back for his second season in Las Vegas. He hit .290.

Last year with Las Vegas, his at-bats nearly halved by then-51s manager Terry Kennedy, Thurston's batting averaged slipped to .284. And after another slow spring -- at least on paper -- Thurston was sent to his fourth year in Las Vegas.

Sometime around next week's home opener for the 51s, Thurston will break the franchise record for career at-bats, set by second baseman Joey Cora, who had 1,471 in four seasons with Las Vegas.

So Thurston, now 25, doesn't much mind being the career record holder for at-bats in a Las Vegas uniform. Because he still fully expects to, like Cora, go on to a major-league career.

"I know I can play in the big leagues," Thurston said after Wednesday's preseason practice at Cashman Field. "I'm not coming back here to do too much. I know I can hit. I had one very good year, and .285 and .290 are good years. I don't care where you are."

This preseason, Thurston seems to be smiling smiles usually reserved for his September call-ups to the Dodgers. And part of that is almost certainly because of new manager Jerry Royster, a well-respected instructor for the Dodgers for several seasons and now returning to Las Vegas as Triple-A manager.

"It's all about being a prospect," Royster said Wednesday of his philosophy. "It doesn't matter how old you are. If you're here, you've got work to do. We're going to show the Dodgers something they haven't seen before."

It's also something the players haven't seen before. Jose Flores, a 31-year-old infielder entering his second season in Las Vegas and his seventh at Triple-A, said Royster's attitude of treating everyone as a prospect is refreshing.

"It gives you a light at the end of the tunnel," Flores said. "Whether you're a prospect or not, he's pushing the right buttons to get you back. It's important for each and every one of us. He treats everybody even. That's the big key."

With a roster full of experience at this level and above, balancing growth of younger and older players is bound to be a challenge for Royster, who managed Las Vegas' Triple-A team from 1996-98 and also managed Milwaukee in 2002.

Of the 24 players on the roster for today's season opener at Colorado Springs, five played extensively in the American major leagues last season. Another 11 are making return appearances to the Las Vegas lineup.

But for Thurston, Flores and outfielder Chin-Feng Chen, who is also beginning his fourth season in Las Vegas, there's pressure that hasn't been there in years past. The once-depleted Dodgers farm is now showing signs of life.

"We've got a double-play combination in Vero Beach I'd put up against anybody's," Royster said. "Our pitching staff in Jacksonville is just ridiculous. It's one of those rarities."

And are the 51s aware of that in their new first-base-side clubhouse at Cashman Field?

"Darn right they are," Royster said. "Meanwhile for guys like Frank Brooks and Edwin Jackson and Aquilino Lopez, the major leagues are closer than last year. These guys, they know. They know these guys are coming. They've got to keep it together to stay ahead."