Aside from learning how to put bat to ball more consistently, Trey Porras needs to learn one more thing: When it comes to baseball, Ray Birmingham knows best.
“If he does what I ask him to, he’ll have a major opportunity to play a lot,” said Birmingham, the Lobos’ head baseball coach.
Porras transferred from Wharton Junior College and played
sporadically for the Lobos in 2011 because he struggled offensively. That led to the emergence of first baseman D.J. Peterson.
But Porras is looking forward to breaking into the starting lineup, and he has spent the better part of summer with the Brazos Valley Bombers, a team in the Texas Collegiate League. He is one of nine players from the Bombers’ squad to make the All-Star game, which takes place today.
Porras said he has thrived from the experience and will play in about 70 games in a two-and-a-half-month stretch.
“I’m getting a small taste of how it is to play professional and minor league ball,” he said. “And I have a new respect for those guys.”
Porras leads the league with a .391 average and leads the team in hits and runs scored. More importantly, as Birmingham would say, Porras has only six strikeouts in 110 at bats — the fewest strikeouts on his team.
As if things could be better, Porras has also played alongside his brother, Brad.
“It sounds like I’m at a summer camp or something,” Porras said.
Birmingham said he is encouraged by Porras’ summer output.
“He’s had a good summer,” he said. “He’s learned how to hit, and he’s learned how to make the approach. He has a chance to be a pretty good hitter. He has a chance to be a fierce competitor, and he has a chance to do well.”
The Lobos went 16-39 in the latest season, but went on an unprecedented run in the Mountain West Conference tournament to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament.
Porras said he loved playing in front of thousands, and is looking forward to it in his last season as a Lobo.
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“Hopefully I can get in the lineup every day and help out the team and get us back into the playoffs,” he said.
