Possible reasons why La Stella Is Underrated

rico43

rico43

<B>Director of Minor League Reports</B>
Tracing his career, I wonder if we can get to the root of why so many people are dubious about his upside.

Going back to 2011, it sounds like he dealt with a really painful back problem:

Back in February, Tommy La Stella was hitting .125 and was dealing with a sharp pain in his back.

Now the former St. Joseph star from Closter is hitting .407 and afflicting a lot of pain on pitchers trying to contain Coastal Carolina, the 26th-ranked team in the country.

His pain originated from the facet point in his back. It started about a week before the season, and he eventually had a medial branch block performed to burn the nerve heads in that area in an effort to quell the pain.

"It’s kind of been an ongoing thing for me all year," La Stella told The Sun News of Myrtle Beach, S.C. "It started with the right side, now it’s on the left side. But I’ve had some treatment on it. I’m taking care of it as best I can with the trainer and I’ve kind of minimized the pain. It’s definitely something I can tolerate, so it’s not really an issue."

The lefty-hitting second baseman, who hit .378 last season, is batting a team-high .407 with a team-high 60 RBI and 11 homers. He has a 15-game hitting streak going into Coastal Carolina’s opening-round game in the Big South tournament Wednesday.

"When you’ve got runners on base, there’s nobody else you want at the plate because you know he’s going to get them in," said teammate Daniel Bowman. "He’s carried us this year."

Ironically, La Stella is on scholarship for the first time — in his junior year. After hitting .320 in 20 games as a freshman at St. John’s, he wanted to transfer and he was hooked up with Coastal Carolina by Bob Frassa, a hitting instructor in North Jersey who was friendly with coach Gary Gilmore.

 
POSSIBLE REASONS II:

THe injuries La Stella has had since signing are numerous, almost ridiculous. From MiLB this summer:

La Stella's drag bunt single in the first inning against Pensacola on June 9 gave him a .330 average in his first 26 games with Mississippi. The hit, though, came with a price, which has too frequently been the case for Atlanta's No. 16 prospect.

La Stella strained his hamstring just before reaching first base, landing him on the disabled list. Unfortunately, that's a spot the second baseman is all too familiar with.

La Stella, 24, was beaned at Class A Advanced Lynchburg last season, then sat out six weeks after breaking his leg in a collision while covering first on a bunt. This year, he missed Spring Training and the first three weeks of the season because of a sore right elbow.

"It's been frustrating," said the left-handed hitting La Stella, who made it back from his hamstring injury June 29. "You want to play, not sit."

When healthy, La Stella has always hit, and the Braves feel that the former Coastal Carolina standout was a steal as an eighth-round pick in the 2011 Draft.

After batting .398 his last season in college, La Stella hit .328 for Class A Rome and then .302 with Lynchburg last year despite being limited to 85 games.

La Stella went 11-for-20 in seven games with the Hillcats this season after recovering from elbow inflammation, and then was 3-for-6 with two doubles, a triple and five RBIs in his Mississippi debut May 7.

Who needs Spring Training?

"Lynchburg was my Spring Training," La Stella said.

But now the New Jersey native is having to get back up to speed again after sitting out nearly three weeks. Eased back, La Stella had just four hits in his first 21 at-bats, dropping his average to .304.

"I'm trying to get my timing back," he said.

When La Stella does, he will be an offensive force again. He has struck out just 11 times while drawing 18 walks for Lynchburg and Mississippi this season, following his normal pattern.

La Stella has walked 84 times in 194 Minor League games and struck out just 64 times.

La Stella, who started his college career at St. John's, also has some pop. He had 14 homers his final season at Coastal Carolina and has a .467 slugging average this year to go with his .422 on-base percentage.

"I want to be aggressive but make sure it is a pitch I can handle," said La Stella, who drove in seven runs in the playoffs as Lynchburg won the Carolina League's Mills Cup last season.

But for La Stella, the real key is staying healthy. He's spent enough time on the disabled list.

 
Back problems can be on-going. Probably the worst non-career ending injury a player can have is to his back.

I'm pulling for him, but he does get banged up a ton.
 
What holds him back from being a bigger prospect other than his age is his defense. I havent really seen anyone that doubts his ability to hit.
 
But non of his injuries in the minors have been to his back, and the pro seasons are way longer than college's are so that's heartening.

He does sound like he's one of those guys who play hard and gets hurt doing it.

Projecting that over a 162 games season indicates more injuries, unfortunately.
 
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