Profar’s big moments
Jurickson Profar breaks into a shy grin when asked about feeling the pressure of being baseball’s top prospect.“Not at all,” Profar said. “It’s just about doing the same thing I’ve been doing since I started playing baseball.”For Profar, that has been shining on the biggest of stages in his young career. He has homered on three memorable stages — as an 11-year-old in the 2004 Little League World Series; last season at the Futures Game; and last season in his first big-league at-bat at Cleveland.It’s easy to see why Profar is regarded as the top prospect, and he vividly remembers the highlights so far in his career. In the Little League World Series, you homered in the championship game that Curacao won. What was that moment like? It was a great moment. I still remember hitting that home run in the finals, and it was good for the team. You pitched well in the tournament, too. Do you ever think you could have been a pitching prospect? No, I’m a shortstop. I don’t want to think about pitching. Going to your first at-bat in the big leagues, when did your homer sink in? It was special, but you don’t think about it when you hit it or run around the bases. It was kind of normal. Then when I got back to the hotel, I was like, “Wow. I hit a home run in my first AB.” It was great. Were you sitting fastball? I was just trying to hit the ball hard. I remember the second pitch he threw, I ripped it foul. So I said, “I’m too early here.” So I just stayed back and waited for the pitch and hit a home run. Does your Futures Game homer off Royals prospect Jake Odorizzi last season rank up there? It’s below those two [Little League and big-league debut] homers. I had two strikes in that at-bat, so I was just trying to make contact and he left it up. So what is the top homer, Little League or MLB debut? (He laughs and then says:) Both. … They’re both the same to me.Number of the day0 Disabled-list stints for Matt Harrison the past two seasons. He had one DL stint in 2010 and two in 2009.He said it“I think he’s under the radar as far as being a front-line pitcher, but he’s a front-line guy we count on in big games. He’s very calm, poised and has good stuff. He’s a quiet leader and our younger guys are watching him work out and how he goes about his business.” — Brewers general manager Doug Melvin on Fort Worth Trimble Tech grad Yovani Gallardo, who was Mexico’s starting pitcher in its 5-2 victory over the United States in the first round of the WBC on Friday.Injury Report RHP Colby Lewis (flexor tendon surgery in July): Scheduled for 40-pitch bullpen session Sunday. 1B Mitch Moreland (right quad tightness): Did not play Saturday and is day to day. LHP Martin Perez (broken left ulna): Expected to miss two months. RHP Kyle McClellan (shoulder soreness): Threw live batting practice Saturday. RHP Joakim Soria (Tommy John elbow surgery in April): Will throw bullpen session Sunday. RHP Neftali Feliz (Tommy John elbow surgery in August.): Throwing out to 75 feet. RHP Tanner Scheppers (strained left hamstring): Pitched Friday vs. Seattle. RHP Yoshinori Tateyama (lower-back stiffness): Pitched Friday vs. Milwaukee. C Eli Whiteside (mild left calf strain): Re-aggravated strain and is out 3-5 days. Wilmer Font (mild shoulder tendinitis): Will throw live batting practice Sunday.Videos of the dayCatch manager Ron Washington discuss Matt Harrison’s injury and the rise of Nick Tepesch. Also, see what Tepesch said after his Saturday start on our Foul Territory blog at star-telegram.com/rangers. — Drew Davison
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