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Fryman remains focused
By JON MOFFETT
NILES
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Jordan Casas (13) of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers slides in safely to second base as Randy Schwartz of the Auburn Doubledays pulls in a high throw during a game at Eastwood Field this season. The Scrappers begin the second half of the New York-Penn League season tonight at Jamestown.
It’s not clear if Mahoning Valley Scrappers manager Travis Fryman is a glass half full or half empty kind of guy.
But even with the Scrappers’ season half over, Fryman refuses to look at the year as a whole.
“We talk about taking each game as it is,” Fryman said. “Our focus needs to be on winning today’s game.”
Winning has been somewhat difficult for the Scrappers (14-24). The team was swept by the State College Spikes in its last series, and sits at the bottom of the New York-Penn League’s Pinckney Division. The Scrappers have lost five straight.
Still, Fryman said his job is to keep a positive attitude in the clubhouse.
“If you dwell on the fact that we struggle as a team, we don’t swing the bats well, those negatives are certainly going to take their toll,” he said. “But you come to the park with a fresh attitude every day and are prepared to work. Your goal is to win today’s game.”
Things will turn around, Fryman said, because that’s just baseball.
“That’s the way you play the game at any level,” he said. “Whether you’re a good team or a team that struggles to win ball games, that’s the way you approach the game.”
Fryman, who is in his third year as manager, holds true that many of the players are still learning to play every day. Many of them, he said, were playing in college last year and are still learning the game at the next level.
“At this level it’s hard,” he said. “Guys are playing every day for the first time and there is a lot of fatigue out there on the field.”
Not adding any ease was the Scrappers’ recent stretch. The team played 19 days in a row. Eight of those game were on the road, including back-to-back trips to Williamsport, and State College, Pa.
“They’ve had a real tough stretch here, physically, and we’ve had a few minor injuries that have kept us from being able to rotate through some players,” Fryman said. “But again, from our approach as a staff, is that this is a teaching time.
“We have to be careful that we don’t get too negative or show too much frustration because they certainly feed off that. But it is what it is.”
The Scrappers are batting a league-worst .228 and have a .306 on-base percentage. It, too, is last in the league.
The team’s earned run average is second-worst in the league, and they have the second-fewest wins.
These numbers aren’t a surprise to Fryman. When asked if there was some sort of outside motivation he could use on his team, Fryman smiled.
“Motivation doesn’t make much of a difference,” he said. “Those are good in the movies, but not real good in reality. This isn’t about motivation, this is about ability, talent and execution.”
He added that when it comes to ability and talent, teaching can only put an athlete in position to succeed.
“You can’t do a lot with that. You work with what you’ve got here to work with, you try to figure out a way to help that group complement one another and perform to the best of their abilities.”
Fryman said it’s not a lack of talent, but rather a combination of a longer season, different bats — players used aluminum in college, wood in the minors — and better competition that has Mahoning Valley in a bit of a rut.
“The guys are working hard and giving us their best effort,” he said. “It’s just that baseball is a dang hard game. And it’s a good league this year.”
The Scrappers open a three-game road trip against Jamestown tonight. The Jammers (21-15) are in first place in the division. They also have the third-highest team batting average.
The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.