Matt Long wasn't the happiest player in the Los Angeles Angels' system on the morning of July 5. That's when the Angels traded for reliever Joe Thatcher and set forth a chain reaction of moves that led to Long moving down a level to Class AA Arkansas.
Long, 27, is doing his best to get back to where he was three weeks ago -- Class AAA Salt Lake -- and Saturday night was another example.
Long singled three times, scored twice and knocked in a run in the Travs'5-3 victory over the Tulsa Drillers at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
"It's like I told him, 'I know you'd rather be in Triple A or the big leagues, but I'm not going to lie, we're happy to have you and we're going to do everything we can to get you back to Triple A,' " Wellman said. "It's nice to have that guy to insert right into the heart of your order."
A .361 stretch over his past nine games has raised Long's average from .194 to 278 in his quest to return to Salt Lake.
"That's the goal," Long said. "Whether I should be or shouldn't be, that's not my decision to make. So all I can do is go out and play baseball and try to prove myself, put up numbers and force somebody to make a move."
Long singled and scored during the Travs' three-run second inning, which was capped by Adam Melker's two-run home run. Long knocked in Mike Bianucci with a single in the third and scored on Anderson De La Rosa's double. He added a single and a stolen base in the eighth inning.
Long said any disappointment over his demotion -- he was hitting .261 as the Bees' starting center fielder -- was over by the time he played his first game in Arkansas.
But Wellman, a three-decade veteran of minor-league coaching, said he understands disappointment could have contributed to Long's sluggish start with the Travs.
"If he wasn't disappointed about being sent down, something is wrong with him," Wellman said of Long, who spent most of last season and the first three months of this season in Salt Lake before the July 5 shakeup. "I'm sure it took a little time."
Long said a small adjustment suggested by Angels' assistant general manager Scott Servais and minor-league fielding coordinator Mike Micucci -- to rest his bat on his shoulder rather than holding it in the air while waiting for the pitch -- has sparked his recent surge.
"Nobody has figured out hitting yet," Long said. "If they had, they'd be hitting .800 in the big leagues. Baseball is a constant game of adjustments."
Arkansas is in the middle of a stretch of 26 games in as many days against Texas League North Division foes, and Long's surge is coming at the right time. Saturday's victory came after the Travelers took a 5-1 lead after three innings and allowed Drew Rucinski (9-4) to earn a victory despite a less-than dominant start.
Rucinski struck out 4 and walked 4 while giving up 3 runs on 5 hits over 5 2/3 innings. Cam Bedrosian picked up his 14th save when he struck out the side in the ninth.
"When you get a pitcher like Drew Rucinski an early lead, he tends to run with it," Wellman said.
Sports on 07/27/2014