TUCSON — Hector Gomez is convinced he has a future as an everyday player in the major leagues. And he has a lot of company within the Rockies’ front office.
Question is, if he makes it in the big leagues, will it be with the Rockies? He does, after all, play shortstop, and his name isn’t Tulowitzki.
“I don’t know,” said Gomez, when asked about being a young shortstop in an organization with a young franchise player ahead of him. “Maybe I’ll play a different position, or maybe I’ll be in a different organization. What I have to do is show everybody I can play every day, wherever they put me.”
Gomez, 22, doesn’t have a lengthy resume as a professional player, partly because he missed virtually all of the 2008 minor-league season with a leg injury. But he has shown enough potential for the Rockies to believe he’ll emerge as a major-league regular.
“He has big gaps in his game, but he’s a big-league player,” Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said. “He has a chance to be an impactful one. The most important thing for him is consistency. He needs consistent at-bats.”
More than anything, he needs a lot of at-bats. Gomez signed five years out of San Pedro de Macoris, one of the Dominican Republic’s most famous baseball factories. He’s had more than 338 at-bats only once in five professional seasons.
But he has a rocket arm, making him fully capable of making the throw from the hole at shortstop, and he’s an above-average runner. And, while his career high is 11 home runs, the Rockies project he’ll fill out his 6-foot-2 frame and hit for power in years to come. He’s currently listed at 180 pounds.
“He’s got the entire package, but he needs to put it together,” O’Dowd said. “He’s a natural shortstop, but his bat needs to come. We’re going to let him learn at the most premium position on the field, and then we’ll let him learn at other positions.”
Gomez has more value at shortstop, so he’ll open the season there at Double-A Tulsa. And if he has a monster season and appears primed to push for a major-league roster spot?
The Rockies will worry about that later. He could be traded or moved to another position.
For now, Gomez needs to fulfill his enormous promise. If he needs a reminder of how young shortstop prospects can get derailed, he doesn’t have to look far. Chris Nelson, the Rockies’ No. 1 draft choice in 2004, has battled injuries for much of his career, limiting him to 29 games at the Double-A level.
Gomez is confident he’ll make it, and it might not be long.
“Believe me, I can play every day in the big leagues,” he said. “I can make every play. I’m an infielder. It doesn’t matter if I play shortstop or somewhere else. An infielder needs to know every position.”
