Article on the Dragons playoff chances; Jay Bruce injury update

Article in the Dayton Daily News by Marc Katz

Dragons' playoff drive needs two big bats

Dayton Dragons outfielder B.J. Szymanski, ex-football player, Princeton University graduate and 2004 second-round Cincinnati Reds draft choice, says first baseman Habelito Hernandez tells him, "Every day is a new day, good or bad."

Szymanski is starting to have some good days, as are the Dragons, who are hunting for a Class A Midwest League playoff spot that has eluded them since 2002. They are in the midst of a four-game series with Fort Wayne for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Division.

Szymanski will probably have to hit for that to happen.

"You have to put wood on the ball," said Szymanski, who went 4-for-4 Friday, 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Saturday and 4-for-5 Sunday.

Momentum for Szymanski — indeed the Dragons — seems to be game-long, not series- or season-long. A big victory one night doesn't automatically lead to another the next. A big loss doesn't put the Dragons into a funk.

Monday night at Fort Wayne, the Dragons were three games over .500 for the seventh time this season. They were trying for their first plus-four.

"From game-to-game, it's all about mentality of a team rather than momentum," Szymanski said. "Within a game, success breeds success."

While this will not be a breakout year for Szymanski, he is quietly putting together a solid season. Sunday's outburst lifted his batting average to .251, considerable considering he never got above .200 the first month of the season. He is second on the team to Jay Bruce in both RBIs with 55 and homers with 14.

Bruce, who is resting a bruised right shoulder — "It's fine, look," he said, windmilling his arm above his head. "I have full range of motion" — should return to the lineup this week. With the two outfielders hitting, that could be enough to propel the Dragons into the playoffs.

Playoffs on their minds

• "I want to make it," Dragons catcher Craig Tatum said of the playoffs. "I don't want to play the season for nothing. You don't want to just play for yourself."

• "It's exciting," Dayton first baseman/DH Bobby Mosby said. "Everybody is upbeat. Hopefully, we can make it to the playoffs."

• "If you're a competitor and want to win, you're not concerned about yourself," Dragons manager Billy Gardner Jr. said. "When you're in a situation where you're in the hunt, you play for the team. When you're out of it, players play more for themselves."

• A year ago, every team in the Reds' minor-league system finished with a losing record except for the rookie Billings (Mont.) Mustangs, the only one of the six teams to make the playoffs.

This year, every team — Class AAA Louisville, Class AA Chattanooga, Class A Sarasota, the Dragons and Billings — except for the rookie Gulf Coast League Reds, has a winning record.

First-year director of player development Johnny Almaraz made it clear when he visited Dayton a couple weeks ago.

"I want to win," Almaraz said. He apparently means it.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/daily/081506inside.html