Manatees' Arcia shows off skills at plate

If all you had seen of Orlando Arcia was his performance on Tuesday night, you would have no clue that the Brevard County shortstop is known more for his glove than his bat.

The Brewers' fourth-ranked prospect posted a 5-for-5 night in the Manatees' 10-4 win over Lakeland at Space Coast Stadium. He fell a homer shy of the cycle, ending up with two doubles, a triple, five RBIs and two runs scored. He threw in his 13th stolen base of the season.

"He was crushing the ball tonight," Brevard County batting coach Ned Yost IV said. "Every single at-bat, he hit the ball hard, which was great. He's been doing that as of late. He's really been working on just being on time and tonight, it all clicked for him. ... It was good to see. It was a lot of fun to watch."

Arcia set a career high for hits in a game while matching his previous best in RBIs. He also drove in five runs on June 7, 2011, in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League. Four of his RBIs on Tuesday came with two outs.

"You really know it's going well when that happens," Yost said. "That really demoralizes the other team, when they get you on your heels like that and then it seemed like every time he came around, he was in a big situation and came through for us."

The 19-year-old Venezuelan became the second member of the Manatees to go 5-for-5 this season; as Tyrone Taylor achieved the feat while hitting for the cycle on April 29 in a 20-0 rout of Clearwater.

Against the Flying Tigers, Arcia doubled to left field in the first, singled to left in the third, tripled to right-center in the fourth, doubled to right in the fifth and singled to center in the seventh. Less than halfway through the game, he'd made the cycle a possibility.

"It definitely crossed my mind," Yost said. "In his last at-bat, the first pitch, he was on it. He crushed it but pulled it foul. I mean, it wasn't home-run distance, but if he lets it get maybe just a tick deeper, he keeps it fair and then he's got a chance. But he came through and ended up getting a two-strike single up the middle.

"It's so impressive for a kid that young to be in that situation and not try to hit a home run and get that single up the middle."

Through 71 games, Arcia owns a .278/.338/.381 slash line with 16 doubles, five triples and one homer. He's also collected 29 RBIs while swiping 13 bags in 18 tries.

Yost mentioned Arcia's natural ability when explaining his success, also noting that it doesn't hurt for him to have an older brother playing for the Twins in Oswaldo Arcia. Regardless, the hitting coach had nothing but praise for the player who turned in a perfect night at the plate.

"He's having an excellent year," Yost said. "We always felt like he's a good player. And he's been outstanding defensively. We knew that coming in, that he was going to be that way. And offensively, we weren't expecting a whole lot, but he's really opened our eyes this year and he's really come on strong. He's doing an excellent job.

"Honestly, I'd just like to see him keep doing what he's doing. For him being 19 in this league, like I said, he's opening up a lot of eyes. And if he can continue to do this, he's going to end up having an outstanding year."