Nuts player on his way up

The two ugliest words in minor league baseball are "organizational player."

They refer to the players in the minors whose job is to make sure there are enough bodies to play a game.

They're guys who have little or no shot at ever advancing high in an organization, let alone ever having a chance to sniff a major-league roster. Their value starts and ends with being good teammates for the blossoming prospects and bonus babies whose ascent in the organization is all but predetermined.

Jason Van Kooten is not an organizational player, but he was perhaps one bad 2009 season away from wearing that tag.

After missing nearly the entire 2007 season with a back injury that almost ended his career, then hitting .245 in 101 games with Modesto in 2008, Van Kooten came into this season needing to show the Colorado organization that he can be a productive, healthy player for an entire season — perhaps his last shot to be a prospect.

He's responded to that pressure by putting up the best offensive numbers of his career, finishing the regular season with a .302 average, 10 homers, 55 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Van Kooten tied for the league lead with 45 doubles and earned a spot on the California League postseason all-star team as the league's top second baseman.

Above all, he's been relatively injury free and a fixture in the top third of Jerry Weinstein's lineup. Van Kooten, who turned 25 on Sept. 1, will be in that lineup tonight when the Modesto Nuts open their best-of-three North Division first round series against Bakersfield at John Thurman Field.

He says there has been very little different in his approach to the game this season, other than a mental adjustment that has allowed him to maintain an even keel through the highs and lows of the season.

"I feel like I've paid my dues and finally learned that when you hit the ball hard it's not always going to be a hit," Van Kooten said. "It's easy to get caught up in the results of what you do, when what's important is to do the same things every day and only try to control the things you can control. I can go oh-for-four and hit the ball hard four times, or I can get three hits and not hit the ball hard at all. Learning what's important has been a nice part of this season."

Of all the lessons players need to learn in the minors, learning to identity success and failure is one of the most important. The outcome of an at-bat really doesn't become important until you reach the majors.

On the other hand, unless someone from the organization is on hand to see that the 0-for-4 in the box score was four scorched line drives, it looks like a weak night at the plate.

"It's hard not to think about the results because so many people are watching what you do and other people in the organization don't see you play, and they have to go off the reports," Van Kooten said. "Results are nice, but you can't control the results."

And players also can't control their own advancement through the minors.

When spring training breaks, and teams are sent to their outposts around the country, that first day at the ballpark always is interesting. In Modesto, players chuckle when they first pull on the uniform that has "Nuts" across the chest, and their eyes get big when they see the size of John Thurman Field's outfield expanse.

But for the returning players, it's all old hat. Repeating a level in the low minors isn't like being held back in first grade, but try telling that to the guys who just a few days earlier thought they were bound for Double-A Tulsa.