SPRINGFIELD — Any day now, The Call could come for Adam Eaton. He’s a step away from joining Dave Burba, Rick White and Dustin Hermanson on the list of Kenton Ridge graduates who have played Major League Baseball.
Just five years after graduating from Kenton Ridge and less than two after being drafted out of Miami University in the 19th round, Eaton has ascended to Triple-A in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He was promoted April 18 and has tried not to think about when the next promotion might come.
“You’ve got a job. You continue doing what you’re doing,” Eaton said. “You don’t worry about other things. It’s going to drive you nuts. Just come here and do a job and make it hard for them to send you somewhere else.”
Eaton has done that so far. In seven games with the Reno (Nev.) Aces, he’s hitting .393, batting leadoff and playing center field. On Tuesday, he went 4-for-5 with four runs scored, a double and a stolen base.
“It’s a good city, a good brand of baseball,” Eaton said. “The team has really welcomed me in. There’s a lot of moves being made, and it’s been an open door at Triple-A.”
Eaton was promoted from Double-A Mobile, where he hit .300 in 11 games, when the Diamondbacks promoted outfielder A.J. Pollock, a first-round pick in 2009, from Reno to the big leagues. An injury suffered by Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young opened a spot for Pollock.
Eaton quickly noticed a difference between Double-A and Triple-A.
“Guys are a lot smarter. Pitchers know how to handle themselves on the mound,” he said. “They know how to work both sides of the plate.”
Eaton can work the plate with the best of them, too. On Monday, he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting the Aces to a 14-13 victory.
Eaton has been hit by 48 pitches in 920 plate appearances in his minor league career, or once every 19 times at the plate. By comparison, the National League’s all-time leader in being hit by pitches, Craig Biggio, took one for the team every 43 plate appearances.
Eaton’s strategy for getting hit is simple. First, he’s willing to take one on the arm because he wears an elbow pad. He doesn’t mind getting hit on the thigh either. He’ll get out of the way of any ball that might hit him in the head, calf, knee or ankle.
The other key is standing your ground. He got hit by a 100 miles per hour pitch a couple days ago and said he’s not scared of getting hurt.
“Some of the guys will raise their arms, which is the normal reaction,” Eaton said. “I always tend to freeze. I leave my arms where they are. For me, it’s any way to get on base.”
Even as Eaton dreams of making the majors, he has already experienced life as a major-leaguer. He spent all but two days of spring training as a nonroster invitee in the Diamondbacks camp. He hit .286 in 25 games (14-of-49) with three triples.
“Spring training went pretty well,” Eaton said. “I started off cold as I usually do. My swing is about timing. It takes me a little while to kind of get my swing down. I got that under control, and I started hitting the ball a little better later in the spring. The management got a gauge of how I play and how I go about my business. That was a boost for me.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0351 or David.Jablonski @coxinc.com.