This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Former Lakewood St. Edward Star Enjoys Spring Training With Indians

Alex Lavisky, who helped the Eagles win the 2010 state baseball championship, warming up at Cleveland Indians' Spring Training.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Alex Lavisky still exudes boundless energy and confidence at the Cleveland Indians’ spring training camp.

Lavisky helped Lakewood's win the 2010 Ohio state baseball championship – then was drafted by the Tribe. He was coveted by many teams, but didn’t have the best of seasons a year ago. He struggled to hit for the first time in his life, batting only .203 with a whopping 137 strikeouts in 117 games between Lake County and Mahoning Valley.

This spring. Indians executives still love Lavisky’s potential, but also are impressed by watching the 21-year-old making adjustments.

Find out what's happening in Lakewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We’re very excited about his progress and are optimistic that Alex will start to produce the way we believe he can,” said Ross Atkins, the Indians’ director of player development.

“What you saw a year ago was a player from northern Ohio, where he had limited opportunities to play because of weather, competing against young professionals from Florida, Texas and California who just naturally are more developed because they play day-in, day-out for years.”

Find out what's happening in Lakewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Lavisky admits it was an eye-opening experience. He clanged a homer off a light tower on his first swing of spring training in 2011. It all was downhill from there, even though he did total 13 homers with 52 RBI during the season.

“I knew I would have to make adjustments, but I didn’t think they would be so extensive,” he said. “I spent all offseason working on my swing and have seen some results.”

Ted Kubiak managed Lavisky at Lake County last season and still believes in the young catcher.

“He’s a great kid and gives everything he’s got,” Kubiak said. “To his credit, he started to take some advice and make changes. It is tough when you are doing things your way and hitting a zillion in high school, then some old coach says, ‘Son, you got to do it this way.’ You think your way will always work. It is tough to change. Alex has started to do that. I hope he gets results because his dedication and desire are genuine.

“I think he put some pressure on himself, though I’m not sure he’s really aware of that. It is natural when you are driven to succeed.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?