Dopirak's great expectations
Just a season ago you were named MVP of the Midwest League. You broke team records with 39 home runs and 120 RBIs. You were considered one of the top prospects in all of baseball. And with that comes a price. You're expected to maintain that level of success each year.
Brian Dopirak is finding out that it's tough to be the same player he was a year ago.
The talent and the expectations are still there. But after starting off the season slowly, will the power-hitting first baseman end it the way he was hoping to start it?
"That's a good question," Dopirak said. "I'm just trying to help the team out as much as I can. If I come up in a situation where I can help the team, then that's what I'm looking for. I'm not trying to save my season or do anything else. I'm just trying to help my team get into the playoffs. That's my main focus right now; and playing hard, and playing good defense."
His average has dropped from .307 in 2004 (with Lansing of the Midwest League) to .243 (with the Daytona Cubs of the Florida State League), and Dopirak is understandably frustrated that he hasn't put up the type of numbers he knows he's capable of.
"It's just one of those things that everybody goes through every season," he said. "They're going to go through a bump in the road that they have to learn from. I really can't say why I'm not having a great year. It gets frustrating because you put a lot of time into it. You work hard and you want to succeed but that's not always the case."
Dopirak, a second-round pick of the Cubs in 2002, was considered one of the top prospects in the entire organization coming into the 2005 season. He was also listed among Baseball America's top 25 players in the Minor Leagues.
But Cubs manager Richie Zisk was not expecting Dopirak to put up the same statistics as last year, especially going into a tougher pitching league.
"They were almost silly numbers," Zisk said. "He put up tremendous numbers in the Midwest League and I think there were great expectations and he might have put a little internal pressure on himself. He had some mechanical problems early on that he's ironed out and he's starting to put together a string of quality at-bats per game. He's starting to square the ball up more than he has and is hitting the ball hard almost every time."
In the month of August, Dopirak is beginning to show signs of coming around. Through Aug. 9, the 21-year-old knocked in 10 runs in his last seven games, improving his season totals to 13 home runs and 62 RBIs.
But even with his recent success, the 6-foot-4 225-pounder is not going to be happy until he produces what he considers worthy statistics.
"Obviously I'm not having the type of year I wanted to have," Dopirak said. "I'm trying to take as much as I can from this year as far as a learning experience and knowing how to play the game. I'm looking at this as a learning year and it's going to help me out in the long run throughout my career."
With that said, there is still a month left in the season for him to showcase those power numbers.
"I've got plenty of time," Dopirak said. "I could get hot and that's all I need. The confidence level is still there I just need to go out there and do it."
Dopirak is most likely going to be moving up to Double-A next season at West Tennessee, which may come as a surprise to outsiders that have seen him struggle somewhat this year.
Zisk is not one of those skeptics. In fact, he believes Dopirak will have an address even further north in the near future.
"With the future ahead of him, I'll take him on my team anytime," Zisk said. "I think he's going to be a real run producer at Wrigley Field. He's going to knock in a lot of runs in the Chicago lineup."
For Dopirak, the plan is simple: If he continues to learn and get better, his talent will take him a long way.
"I believe I can do it. I believe I'm a big leaguer," Dopirak said. "I believe I'll be up there playing with the best of them one day."
Regardless of where he's playing next season, Dopirak is not putting any extra pressure on himself.
"There's always expectations," Dopirak said. "But I just try to do what I can do, what Brian can do, just go out there, play the game, and have fun. That's what it's all about."