Shot at big leagues can be mixed blessing

Nick Christensen

Monday, July 18, 2005 | 9:16 a.m.

LOS ANGELES - It took him four years, but Chin-Feng Chen finally got his first major-league hit on July 4.

He's hardly played since. In fact, he's picked up a bat twice since July 5.

"I try to hit the ball, do what I can do. I'm just learning how to do it in the major league," Chen said. "I try to get in and play baseball. Everybody wants to play in the major leagues but you've got to try hard. Baseball is too (often) a problem in the head. I'm not thinking about it."

While Jason Repko, Antonio Perez, Oscar Robles and Mike Edwards have been the success stories of this year's Dodgers rookies, Chen and catcher Mike Rose sit, watch and wait to be called on.

It's a vicious cycle. A position player is summoned from the minor leagues, where he may or may not be doing well, then cast into the fire against veteran competition.

Then it's back to the bench, a role that can be devastating to a player's timing.

Losing that timing does nothing to improve the player's stature, and the whole thing usually ends back at Triple-A, spending a couple weeks trying to recapture the flow of the game.

"It's a little tough," Rose said. "I've gone through this before, even down in the minor leagues, splitting time with guys and trying to fight for a spot and prove I belong in a starter's role."

Rose joined the Dodgers on May 31. He's 5-for-29, and runners are 11-for-12 in stolen base attempts with him behind the plate.

This time of year can be particularly frustrating for bench players like Chen and Rose, who get to spend time in the major leagues but might be hurting their long-term prospects as other players getting game time in the minors are showcased to suitors in baseball's summer trade market.

"The final blueprints are going to be printed," L:as Vegas 51s manager Jerry Royster said. "(Norihiro) Nakamura, (Pat) Mahomes - everybody's looking at guys that have past exerperience. The Roses in the major leagues are sitting down not doing anything, and these guys down here are getting a chance. That's how you get an opportunity ahead of the guys already there. They're rusty.

"There's some advantage to being down here - and I couldn't convince one of them that."