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St. Francis High Grad Adjusts to Life in the Majors

Danny Stienstra selected in the 12th round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Many college students leave school after four years and jump right into the workforce, moving to a new town and adjusting to new work colleagues. 's Danny Stienstra was no different.

Well, maybe a little different.

After a successful career with the San Jose State baseball team, Stienstra was selected in the 12th round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft by the St. Louis Cardinals in June and assigned to the Class A Batavia Muckdogs of the New York-Penn League for the summer.

"It's certainly a culture adjustment," Stienstra said in a recent interview. "Obviously, I'm pretty far from home and I miss my family. I missed my sister's wedding. My mom came out to Batavia for a few days, but I haven't seen my dad or my sisters for a while."

The transition to professional baseball on the field has also been an adjustment for the Redwood City native. Some players really struggle with that, according to Muckdogs hitting coach, Roger Lafrancois.

"It's a huge adjustment from college for these kids," Lafrancois says. "You play every day, travel most days, and you're thrown into the fire right away. Different guys handle it in different ways. It's very easy to wear down both physically and mentally, and this is a stepping-stone league to see how they handle that."

Offensively, Stienstra is not in the prime RBI-slot in the batting order that allowed him to drive in 54 RBIs in his senior year at SJSU. He led his college team in batting average (.349), runs scored (42) and RBIs, being named the Spartans' MVP last season. The Muckdogs, however, penciled him in primarily as the No. 2 hitter, traditionally asked to move baserunners over and focused on putting the ball in play.

For a guy who struck out just 21 times in his last three seasons of college baseball, the role would seem ideal, but even that has not been easy.

"You don't get as many chances to drive in runs, and you're asked to do different things in that spot in the order, so a lot of that is all new," Stienstra said. "You try to adjust and hit the ball the best you can. I've hit a long of good balls right at guys, so my numbers are a little lower than I expect."

For the season, he finished hitting .258 with 31 hits in 33 games. He struck out just 11 times in 120 at-bats, a positive sign for players in their year of pro ball.

In the field, the Cardinals project him at second base or third base. He primarily played first base in college.

"We've asked Danny to play a lot of positions, and he's been a versatile guy we can play all over the infield, and I think maybe even in the outfield once," Lafrancois said. "Offensively, he's been working on his balance, but he's a guy who knows how to use the whole field. Eventually, I think he'll hit with more power as he gets bigger and stronger."

In all, he has played 94 games since the beginning of his college year, and it started to take its toll.

"You are not going to feel good every day after college and then a long season," Lafrancois said. "Let's say you're feeling 80 percent that day. You still have to give 100 percent of that 80 percent. Just give as much as you have every day because the seasons really becomes a grind."

As for next season, the Cardinals will decide where to put Stienstra, with the likely destination being a promotion to Class A Quad City (Iowa) of the Midwest League. But he isn't concerned about that.

"If they ask me to come back (to Batavia), that's great," Stienstra said.  "Of course, I'd like to move up to a full season league,  but whatever happens, happens."

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