Kandilas aims for return to Minors via ABL

For the first time since he signed with the Colorado Rockies seven years ago, David Kandilas is a free agent, but while the outfielder's phone isn't ringing off the hook just yet with job offers for 2015, his hot start for his hometown Sydney Blue Sox is likely to make MLB clubs take notice.

Through the first 12 games he's played this Australian Baseball League season, Kandilas is lighting up box scores. The 24-year-old's .360 batting average is tied with former Major Leaguer Brad Harman for sixth-best in the league, and Kandilas leads the ABL with six doubles, 15 RBIs and 18 hits while checking in second with eight extra-base hits and 29 total bases.

"I'm a first-year free agent, so it's obviously a really big offseason for me," Kandilas said this week as his Blue Sox prepared for a Round 4 trip to Melbourne. "To have the start I've had, it's very rewarding, and at the same time, it's very humbling. I've always known I could do it. It's just been a matter of time, and it's all starting to come together now."

Kandilas finished high school in Australia after signing with the Rockies and therefore only played professionally for the final six years of his seven-year contract. In 2014, he saw action at three Minor League levels, batting .251/.329/.394 while playing all three outfield positions for Class A Advanced Modesto, Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Colorado Springs.

"When that contract year comes up, everybody wants to put up numbers," he said. "I can understand why because you love the game so much, and that chance of not being able to play anymore is always in the back of your head. It makes you that little bit more determined every day and focused, going out there with a purpose and making sure you get the job done. Ever since Game 1 of this season, it's been a heightened sense of awareness for me to go about my business the right way and prepare and get ready for each game. The results have shown so far."

Kandilas has benefitted from playing next to a mentor in the Sydney outfield and hitting behind him in the lineup. Former big leaguer Trent Oeltjen, a fellow Sydney native, is wreaking havoc on ABL pitching so far in 2014, too. The one-time Dodgers and D-backs outfielder is batting .378 and is tied for Kandilas' league lead in doubles and extra-base hits.
    
"Trent's an amazing guy," Kandilas said. "I always used to tell him growing up as a kid, coming to the old ABL games, I used to watch him and tell myself I wanted to be like him one day. Just to be able to play alongside him and hang out all the time now, it's just crazy.

"I never stop asking him questions like, 'What's your approach here?' or 'What would you have done in this situation?' I'm just bouncing ideas off him all the time because as everyone knows here, he's probably the best offensive player to come out of Australia."

Behind the plate, Kandilas has a familiar face of a different variety with Rockies prospect Will Swanner in Sydney for his first ABL campaign. While teammates with Colorado, Kandilas offered Swanner a place to stay should the catcher ever decide to head Down Under for a campaign. At the end of the Minor League season, Swanner told Kandilas he was in.

"I said, 'Look, you're coming with me,'" Kandilas said with a laugh. "I don't care what you say. You'll stay with me. We live right on the beach, so it's like back home in San Diego where you're from.' It's been great. He's gotten off to a little bit of a slow start, but he's hitting the ball hard like he always does. He's got phenomenal power, so I'm sure it's just a matter of time before he starts finding the holes a bit more."

The Blue Sox are 7-5 and in second place heading into the ABL's fourth weekend of play. They'll visit the last-place Aces in Round 4, a team with a 2-6 record that includes four one-run defeats.

"This game is so humbling, you can't just go out there and think, 'Oh, we're going to pound these guys' and just cruise along," Kandilas said of the league's competitive balance. "It forces us to play our game, which I feel is better for us.

"I'm really excited to see what the rest of the season has to offer."

In brief

This mortal Coyle: Tampa Bay infielder Thomas Coyle became the first American import to claim an ABL weekly award this season when he was tabbed as the league's Round 3 Player of the Week on Monday. Coyle batted .500 for Brisbane in their series victory over visiting Melbourne, ripping four extra-base hits, driving in six runs and scoring five more. Former Seattle and Baltimore Minor Leaguer Craig Anderson was named Pitcher of the Week. Sydney's southpaw threw his first ABL career complete-game shutout in a win over Canberra on Nov. 13.

We meet again: The league's last two Championship Series matchups have pitted the powerhouse Perth Heat against the upstart Canberra Cavalry. The Cavalry ended the Heat's reign of back-to-back Claxton Shield titles with a Championship Series victory in 2013, but Perth reclaimed the crown last season. They'll renew their rivalry this weekend at Perth's Barbagallo Ballpark.

Stingy down south: Adelaide Bite relievers Tyler Brunnemann, Craig Stem and Troy Scott have been among the ABL's most unhittable arms so far this season. Astros righty Brunnemann has allowed just one hit and two unearned runs in 5 1/3 innings. Dodgers right-hander Stem has only made two appearances but has pitched 8 2/3 innings, striking out 13 and walking two while allowing just one earned run. Seattle righty Scott has allowed just one baserunner and no runs in the 2 1/3 innings he's thrown.