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Cutters notebook: Scheiner dazzled for Williamsport on Sunday

The Lowell offense made Jake Scheiner go every direction they could at second base Sunday. It didn’t go particularly well.

They challenged him to his right and came up empty.

Bullets to his left? No sweat.

Slow roller to make him charge and throw on the run? Done.

Watch the Philadelphia Phillies’ fourth-round draft pick play second base over the weekend and there’d be no indication it wasn’t his natural position. He played second base well enough to elicit positive responses from both manager Pat Borders and roving minor league infield instructor Chris Truby the following day.

“I don’t know if I’d call it Major League-quality, but it was a damn good game,” Borders said in the aftermath of Sunday’s series finale with Lowell. “He’s progressed quite a bit, in my opinion, just with the looseness and athleticism and range. He just has a nice, loose, agile look about him.”

It’s not as if Scheiner is completely foreign to second base. He played there some during the college season at Houston. But it was a small enough sample size that his transition from primarily being a third baseman in college to now primarily being a second baseman as a pro is going to take some time to figure out.

If he continues to play games defensively like he did on Sunday, the learning curve for Scheiner could be considerably shorter than first anticipated.

“I feel really comfortable,” Scheiner said. “Truby’s here and he’s been helping out a lot with second base and double play turns and pretty much everything. I’m just taking a lot of reps over there and working my way into both third and second base.”

What Scheiner showcased during Sunday’s game was his ability to not worry about mechanics or the technical aspects of playing the position, and just go out and be an athlete. When Samuel Miranda rolled one up the middle, Scheiner showed great speed to get to an area to where he could field the ball with a dive. He quickly got to his feet and fired to first with a strong third baseman’s arm and got the final out of the second inning.

Later, when Miranda drove a ball to the hole between first and second, Scheiner showed a quick first step to be able to lay out Superman style and snare the ball out of the air. Rockets, dribblers, sharp one-hoppers, it didn’t particularly matter how Lowell hit the ball in Scheiner’s direction, he caught it.

He had 13 chances to handle the baseball Sunday. He made the play each time. Whether it was spectacular or routine, he didn’t flinch.

“I’m still working on it, but I feel comfortable going any where and in any direction,” Scheiner said. “It’s a lot easier coming from shortstop and making that backhand dive like I did. You have a little more time and a little more range by playing deeper, which I’ve started to learn.”

The nuances of the position are still new for Scheiner. He spends a lot of time working on his feet around second base as he turns a double play.

But his transfer from glove to hand is quick. His arm is strong, plenty strong enough to be an adequate regular at third base.

With Scheiner his progression is going to be all about time and reps. It feels like he’ll have plenty of bat to profile as a productive second baseman as he climbs through the Phillies’ system. And if he becomes a Major League average defensive second baseman — and there’s potential for him to be even better than that — it’s tough not to get excited about his potential.

“It’s all about getting used to the angles and how the ball comes off the bat,” Scheiner said. “You can’t overthink anything. You have to let your reactions take over. Just play the game out and see what you need to adjust after your instincts take over.”

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