Hawaii Winter Baseball

HONOLULU--Players in Hawaii Winter Baseball still can't believe their good fortune to be assigned to play in paradise. With two days off a week most weeks, players have found a lot of down time for hitting the beach or sightseeing."It's tough playing baseball in Hawaii," joked New York Mets farmhand Mike Carp with a smile.Recently, Carp has had a lot to smile about. In a league where the top five pitchers in earned run average is under 2.00, Carp is fifth in the league in batting at .283 (as of Nov. 8). After starting off trying to pull the ball, the North Shore Honu's lefthanded hitting first baseman reverted to what made him hit .287/.379/.450 with high Class A St. Lucie: going the other way."He tried to pull everything," Hono hitting coach Mike Lum said. "Now he has a better idea of what to do."Carp went hitless in four of the Honu's first six games. He got his first hit in the seventh game of the season to start a modest six-game hitting streak. Lum said some of Carp's biggest hits in HWB have come when tried to use the whole field."Mike Lum really knows his hitting," said the 20-year-old Carp, a ninth-round pick by the Mets in 2004 out of Lakewood (Calif.) High. "He's helped me out when I struggled when I started off."Carp hopes to improve on what his best pro season. His batting average at St. Lucie was a career-high, as were his 27 doubles and 88 RBIs. His 17 home runs were one shy of what he hit at low Class A Hagerstown in 2005. His performance got him ranked as the eighth-highest prospect in the Florida State League by Baseball America."I just want to improve on what I did, using the whole field and getting more at-bats," he said.Although the pitching in the league has made it hard on the hitters, Carp likes the challenge."The better the pitching (you face), the better chance you have of moving up the next year," Carp said. Carp has definetly found his groove in the land of beaches and bikinis.

Editoral Comment: He sounds more and more like David Wright everyday. Think about Wright's slumps, it's when he gets pull happy. Carp is going to be a beast. And he doesn't turn 21 until mid season next year. We're set with Delgado's replacement. You can book it.