Silva, Adams learn from A-Rod's rehab assignment Watch video
TRENTON- Alex Rodriguez's rehab stint with the Thunder ended Wednesday night with two at-bats.
He made his time in Trenton count, with a two-run blast to dead center field in his second trip to the plate, that gave the home team a six-run lead. He was 3-for-6 in his two games.
What did the Trenton players learn from the slugger, both before and during the games, that they can use as they try to make the step up the ladder to the major leagues?
Juan Silva, the hero of Tuesday night's game with an 11th inning walk-off single, learned much in his short time with A-Rod.
"I saw him in spring training," Silva said. "He is a guy that likes to help other people. Sometimes I talked to him about his approach. He is a guy that likes to help you if you go to him."
"It is really awesome to be around him, (Mark) Teixeira, and good players from the Yankees," Silva said. "You can get maybe some little points from them. Maybe he tells you 10 things, and maybe you don't learn them all, but if you take something from him, I think I can get better."
Thunder manager Bobby Mitchell was impressed by the way Rodriguez took batting practice before the contests, and his approach at the plate.
"What they can learn from him is the relaxation he has when he hits," Mitchell said. "It is not tense at all. It is just real quick, throwing the head of the bat through the zone. And he works this way, and this way, and is not all pull."
He has got a routine that he stays on," Mitchell said. "He would jump in the cage and he would give us the situation. 'Man on third, less than two outs,' and he would work five swings that way."
"And then he would say, 'Ok two outs, game winning run on second base,'" Mitchell said. "He would throw himself in that situation. I think that is a mental thing for him. Like I said, it was really fun to watch him take BP, because he hits the ball so far, with little effort."
"That is what I think these guys need to see," Mitchell said. "It is not how hard you swing, it is how loose you swing. People that were in his group I am sure saw it, and I am sure the other guys saw it. It is so easy for him. He is special, there is no doubt about it. It was fun to have him here."
Lane Adams is one of only two Thunder players that have major league experience. along with J.R. Graham. Adams played in six games for the 2014 American League champion Kansas City Royals. While he does not have the career stats of Rodriguez, Adams knows what it takes to get to the show, and will sometimes give advice to his team mates.
"A few guys have talked to me about it," Adams said. "I am pretty easy going to talk to. It is not like I played up there for a long time, but there are some guys that talk to me about it. I try to help guys out."
"But at the same time, I am still asking questions of them too," Adams said. "I kid of goes around and around."
"It is always fun to see a guy (come down), but it is a little more fun when that guy is third all-time in MLB home runs," Adams said. "Any time you have a player like that calibre come down, you are going to try to see how he goes about his business, and see how professional he is. It is always good to see that, and see how he goes about his day."
Trenton (25-19) won the game Wednesday night 6-4, to take the first three games of the series with the Fisher Cats (20-24). The two teams play the final game of the set Thursday at 10:30 a.m., before the Thunder head out to Binghamton for four games starting Friday night.
Contact Sean Miller at seanmillertrentontimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheProdigalSean