Who is this player, Byron Gettis, the Royals called up to replace the injured Juan Gonzalez?
Gettis is a good story. He played high school baseball in Cahokia, Illinois, but wasn’t drafted after graduating in 1998, since everyone thought he was going to play quarterback at the University of Minnesota. But Gettis decided to play baseball instead, signing with the Royals as an undrafted free agent, an unusual course of action for a high school player. His progress through the farm system has been slow, but he broke out with a nice 2003 season at Double-A Wichita, hitting .302 with a career-best 16 homers, 103 RBI, and 15 steals. Gettis is listed at 6-0, 240, so you might think he is a short fat guy. He is actually an excellent athlete, muscular, fast and strong. He has worked hard to craft his swing and improve his plate discipline. While he’ll never be a huge walk machine and is unlikely to hit .300 at the major league level, he should be able to hold his own despite a fairly high strikeout rate. Although they don’t get a lot of publicity for it, the Royals preach the virtues o
