By JARROD POTTER
AT THE end of his custom Louisville Slugger baseball bat, right near the sweet-spot, Adam Silva has something remarkable inscribed for a local baseball player.
There have not been many Australians head over to Major League Baseball (MLB), the best standard baseball on Earth, so for a Narre Warren teenager to have a legitimate inscription saying, “Adam Silva – New York Yankees” on a bat, speaks volumes of his talent and potential.
Potential that was immediately apparent to the Yankees, which signed Silva to a seven-year deal in 2011 and headed over for his first season this year and found the experience an eye-opener as he went to play affiliate baseball in the Dominican Republic.
“I was in Tampa, Florida, for about a month and a half, pre-season, getting in some work, at-bats, playing every day with the internationals and Americans,” Silva said.
“Then the season came up, which for the minor leaguers like me started in June, so by the time the season came around, they sent me to the Dominican Summer League to play over there.
“Ended up spending four months there – started the season feeling really strong – for the first five games of the season, I was batting over .350 (batting average) and I was starting centre fielder for the Yankees in the DSL (Dominican Summer League).
After a flying start to the season, batting at an extremely high average, for the second time in 12 months his season was cruelled by injury with a medial cruciate ligament (MCL) knee strain following a foot injury that cut down his Australian summer season last year.
“In the fifth game of the season against the Pittsburgh Pirates, I took a tumble in a slippery outfield – was a wet, dewy outfield and strained my MCL,” Silva said.
“I played the first five games of the season, was really strong and pre-season was strong, but didn’t play out my season.”
Silva hopes to generate a number of at-bats this season for the Melbourne Aces – Victoria’s premier baseball team in the Australian Baseball League – with his Aces debut halted last season due to injury.
“Need to get some at-bats with Waverley and the Aces,” Silva said.
“Go back stronger and bigger next year and impress them.
“Want to get some Aces games under my belt, that’s a big thing for me.
“I haven’t been out there yet – last season I had the injury with my foot and I was meant to be on the roster that year, so I didn’t get a chance then, so I’m really keen.
“I think when the time comes around, I’ll be 110 per cent ready for it and I’ll go out and do my best to impress and it’s definitely a proud moment for me and something I’m working towards.”
Representing the Yankees – with the hopes of eventually making his MLB debut in the famous pinstripes – would be a dream realised for Silva and he acknowledges how significant it is to wear that uniform.
“I put it on this morning before I came here, and it’s a very proud feeling – it’s a very notorious uniform around the world, people know that’s the New York Yankees uniform,” Silva said.
“It’s a very humbling feeling and part of the organisation and part of one of the biggest sporting organisations in the world.”
Silva wanted to thank his training partner Sam Beasley.
