Doug Pickens likes his job with the Scrappers

By Pete Mollica

The Michigan native is off to a sizzling start.

NILES — Doug Pickens feels he could be doing lot worse things than playing Class A minor league baseball for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

The 23-year-old Southfield, Mich., native has got off to a sizzling start with his new team, hitting .438 in his first five games with the Scrappers.

Pickens’ average would rank him among the top hitters in the New York-Penn League statistics, but he had only 16 at-bats and hasn’t qualified for the league-leading statistics list.

“This is my job and it could be a lot worse,” Pickens said. “I could be working somewhere in a tie and not really enjoying what I was doing. I love playing baseball.

Pickens was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 2007 major league baseball draft out of the University of Michigan, but didn’t play in the organization during the 2007 season.

“I signed real late, in fact it was the final day of the signing period in August,” Pickens said. “It was too late to join a team. So I went to the fall instructional league and then came to spring training this year.”

He started the 2008 season with the Lake County Captains of the Class A South Atlantic League before coming up to the Scrappers two weeks ago.

“I started out pretty slowly at Lake County, but I got some great help from the coaches there, especially hitting coach Jim Rickon, and when I left I was hitting just over .240,” Pickens said. “Thankfully it’s carried over here.”

The 6-0, 190-pound catcher has recorded seven hits in his first 16 trips to the plate going into a weekend series against Batavia. He scored four runs, drove in one and walked three times in the first five games he’s played.

Pickens said that the big difference from college to professional baseball is the pitching.

“There are just so many good pitchers here and they all can throw a variety of pitches and they know how to work the plate,” Pickens said.

“Pitch selection is another big difference,” the catcher said. “In college, you might hit a pitch that was inside for a line drive somewhere, but here it would probably be a broken bat out.”

The wooden bats are a difference for Pickens, but something that he’s been working with for a couple of seasons.

“I played in a couple of leagues, one in Minnesota and one up in Cape Cod, so I have had experience with the wooden bats,” Pickens said.

At Michigan, Pickens said he was fortunate to get to the NCAA Tournament all three seasons he played with the Wolverines.

“We also won 40 games in all three of those seasons and my junior year we won a regional tournament in Vanderbilt,” he said.

Playing baseball every day with the Scrappers is not a problem for him.

“I much rather be playing everyday than having a couple days off between games like in college, especially when you’ve got things going and you want to keep them going. I enjoy it, it’s my job,” Pickens said.

He also enjoys playing for manager Travis Fryman.

“He’s a no-nonsense manager and he’s there to help you in anyway that he can,” he said. “He’s probably forgot more baseball than anyone on this team knows.”

Pickens likes what he sees about the Scrappers.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys, but we definitely have a lot of talent here,” he said. “The problem right now is that a lot of these guys are just rusty, some hadn’t played for a couple of weeks between the end of college and the first game here. We’re only going to get better.”

Pickens said that he really hasn’t had a chance to see much of the Mahoning Valley yet.

“I got here and played two games, and then we went out on the road, but I’m looking forward to getting out and seeing some of the area,” Pickens said. “I love this ballpark and the crowds have been great.”

The Scrappers will open a three-game series tonight against the Auburn Doubledays in a 6:05 start at Eastwood Field.

mollica@vindy.com