Power replaces speed as Lugs' main weapon
Lansing set to open home season with new type of team

By Mark Feather
For the Lansing State Journal

It didn't take Lansing Lugnuts manager Julio Garcia long to find a major difference between this year's players and the group that won the Midwest League title in 2003.

"I don't think we'll do as much running as we did last year," said Garcia after the team's first practice.

"I felt that last year we had some pretty good team speed. I don't think we'll have as much of that."

It appears that speed has been replaced with power and enough of it to lead the Lugnuts to a 5-2 record on the road to start the season.

Lansing, which lost 4-1 in 10 innings to Dayton Thursday night, begins its home schedule at 7:05 tonight against South Bend at Oldsmobile Park.

"We've got some guys that can really put it out there," first baseman Brian Dopirak said.

Dopirak, who joined the Lugnuts for the final 19 games last season, is one of those sluggers.

He recorded 10 RBI and two home runs, including one in Game 3 to help Lansing clinch the Midwest League championship.

Before joining the Lugs, he hit 13 home runs and collected 37 RBI with the Boise Hawks.

"I really couldn't ask for much more," Dopirak said. "I'm going to have a great time while I'm here because it's a great place to be.

"Julio and these guys are going to teach me so much more. I'm just looking forward to getting W's and bringing another championship back to Lansing."

Dopirak has one home run this season and, despite starting in a 5-for-26 (.133) slump, he is certain to be a crowd favorite at Oldsmobile Park.

But Dopirak isn't the only player likely to awe fans with raw power.

Catcher Jake Fox and outfielders Kevin Collins and Kyle Boyer all have excellent power and that foursome is expected to provide the main offensive punch in the Lugnuts lineup.

Dopirak, Fox, Collins and Boyer combined for a total of 44 home runs last year, with Collins being the only one to play a full season. The foursome has six of the Lugnuts' seven home runs so far this season.

"It's going to be pretty exciting to hit around those guys," said Fox, who returns to Lansing after playing his first half-season of minor league ball with the Lugnuts last year.

Fox, a former student at the University of Michigan, was ecstatic about returning to Lansing and the opportunity to play in front of family and friends. He believes his experience playing in Lansing last season will only benefit his development and communication with the pitching staff.

"It gives me a little more of a leadership role because it helps them trust me and respect me a little bit more," Fox said. "I've been here and I know a little bit of what this league is about."

Fox has a goal to make an impact offensively, but it's not something the Cubs' brass is worried about.

"The organization made it really clear to me that, first of all, I'm a catcher," Fox said.

"They aren't really concerned with my offense this year, they want me to make sure I'm solid defensively day in and day out."

Collins, a 6-foot-2 210-pound lefty, was primarily a designated hitter and first baseman in a full-season with the Lugnuts last year.

He will get more time in the outfield this year and will get plenty of at-bats to improve his offensive game.

"That's why I'm here, to get my at-bats in," Collins said. I'll play some outfield or anywhere I can get in the lineup to get my swings in."

Collins hit 14 home runs last season. But when he wasn't hitting it out, he didn't hit it at all, striking out 116 times.

"He's made good adjustments offensively," Garcia said. "He's not as wild at the plate."

Collins leads the Lugnuts with two home runs and has struck out just four times in 20 at-bats.

Boyer, a three-year player at collegiate powerhouse Cal-State Fullerton, hit nine home runs and recorded 27 RBI in 47 games in his first professional year as an outfielder with Boise last season.

"He looks to have to some power," Garcia said. "It will be neat to see what he can do."

Five Lugnuts to watch

Brian Dopirak, first baseman

Considered to be one of the most powerful hitters in the Cubs' minor-league system. Dopirak, a 6-foot-4 235-pound second-round draft pick in 2002, received a signing bonus of $740,000.

Jake Fox, catcher

• Drafted in the third round in 2003 out of the University of Michigan. Fox , an Indianapolis native, received a $500,000 bonus and is considered a top prospect. Fox has two home runs so far and had seven hits and three walks in his first 17 at-bats.

  Billy Petrick, pitcher

• Passed up a football scholarship at Washington State to pitch in the Cubs organization as a third-round pick in 2002. A signing bonus of $459,500 didn't hurt either. The right-hander won his only start, allowing three hits in five innings.

  Sean Marshall, pitcher

• Could be the Lugnuts' ace this season. The lanky 6-foot-6 lefty has a fastball in the high 80s and a good curveball. He is 1-0 in two starts this season and has allowed just eight hits against 40 batters, with no walks and 14 strikeouts. He was selected in the sixth round in 2003.

  Kyle Boyer, outfielder

• Good hitter for average with deceiving power and good quickness. Boyer was drafted in the 24th round in 2000 by the Chicago White Sox, but did not sign and was later re-drafted by the Cubs in the seventh round in 2003.