NewsDefying expectations, Fowler blossoms
Rookie shines in everyday lineup after skipping Triple-A
By Thomas Harding / MLB.com
04/14/09 3:43 PM ET
CHICAGO -- Rockies rookie Dexter Fowler has developed a knack for achieving before what others feel is his time.He wasn't supposed to skip Triple-A and make the team out of Spring Training. Many thought it was too much to ask him to start and bat leadoff this early in his career.
But in Fowler's first start last Tuesday at Arizona, he swatted the first pitch he saw over the left-field fence, and he hasn't stopped pushing forward. The switch-hitting outfielder, 23, is hitting .294 with two home runs -- one from each side.
With Fowler performing well and Opening Day left fielder Seth Smith having stumbled at the beginning (1-for-14, with the only hit a home run, and six strikeouts), Fowler has started in center and led off four of the past six games, with Ryan Spilborghs moving from center to left and batting second or third.
"We're going to keep giving him things, and if he continues to handle them, we're going to give him more," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "There was some talk about protecting 'Dex' -- put him [at No.] 2, and let 'Spilly' lead off. I said, at the end of the day, 'Let's let him lead off and see where it takes us.'"
Like all of the Rockies, Fowler didn't accomplish much in the team's 4-0 loss to the Cubs on a cold, wet Monday at Wrigley Field. Ted Lilly shut them down for 6 2/3 innings and three relievers kept them off the scoreboard the rest of the way and held the Rockies to one hit, Garrett Atkins' seventh-inning single.
The results weren't what he would have liked, but Fowler enjoyed playing in front of the person who helped make it possible for him to become an athletic prodigy.
Fowler is two years younger than his brother, Wesley, who has athletic ability in his own right. Wesley Fowler was a shortstop and submarine pitcher on teams coached by their father, John, in the Atlanta area. However, the older brother enjoyed basketball. He grew to 6-foot-3 and played at Shorter College in Rome, Ga., and Tennessee State University.
Wesley, who works in sales and marketing for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves, attended Monday's game, along with his girlfriend and two other friends.
"He always encouraged me," Dexter Fowler said. "He's one of my biggest fans.
"I would always play with him and his friends. It made me better, quicker. If I could compete with them, then naturally I could compete with those my age."
The younger Fowler, at 6-foot-5, ended up outgrowing his big brother. Nonetheless, he still looks up to him as a person and an athlete.
"I still can't compete with him in basketball," Fowler said. "He really doesn't play that much anymore. He plays at the office sometimes, some pickup games. I still can't compete.
"Baseball? I didn't get better than him until he gave it up."
The competition helped, but Fowler is taking it to a new level. The home run swings are new. When he was a Baseball America and USA Today All-American at Milton High in Alpharetta, Ga. -- before the Rockies selected him in the 14th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft -- or when he was a touted prospect, his reputation was based on his speed and overall athletic ability rather than home run power.
Hurdle said he expects pitchers to challenge Fowler up and inside with fastballs and low with breaking balls. The two home runs -- right-handed on a fastball from the D-backs' Doug Davis and left-handed on a breaking pitch by the Phillies' Brett Myers -- are signs that Fowler can combat the strategies.
Fowler is a natural right-handed hitter, but began switch-hitting after turning pro. Working with hitting coach Don Baylor to strengthen his swing from the left side is paying off.
"We saw a number of times in Spring Training, left-handed there were some bullets he hit that short-hopped the right-field wall, about three of them late in Spring Training," Hurdle said. "He's worked very hard to develop the strength to do it, because I don't think that's a swing he had last season late."
Fowler said the Majors are the same fun game he played growing up, when he was merely trying to keep up with his brother. It's a case of trusting his athletic ability and not worrying about the pitcher's strategy.
"I honestly don't know how they're pitching me," he said. "I just go up and look for what they throw at me. When I start thinking like that, I start thinking too much. Let's hope I can keep thinking like that. I'm just having fun."
Thomas Harding is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
