DeJesus determined to remain in Major Leagues
Ex-Brave star playing center field for KC Royals
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

FARRAH MAFFAI staff Manalapan’s David DeJesus has come a long way since his playing days as a Manalapan Brave, earning his spot as the lead-off man for the Kansas City Royals this past season.

As David DeJesus sees it, the hard part has just begun.The former Manalapan High School and Rutgers University star finished his first full season in the Major Leagues this year with the Kansas City Royals. Although he had a solid season as the team’s lead-off hitter and center fielder, security is granted to very few in the big leagues.

“It was pretty cool to have the opportunity to play, now I have to try and stay there,” DeJesus said from his home in Manalapan. “There are a lot of players bidding to get where I’m at.”

DeJesus knows that all too well. He was one of them just a year ago, getting his first call up in September 2003. The former All-Big East outfielder at Rutgers was called up in early April to play right field for the Royals, and promptly went 1-for-23, playing his way back to Omaha (the Royals’ Triple-A team).

DeJesus, who readily admitted that his confidence was sagging at best, and that doubts were creeping in as to whether he could play at the highest level, knew that the demotion was the best thing for him.

“I was happy to go down,” he recalled. “I was stressing too much. I needed to play every day and get back to being relaxed and having fun.

“In Triple A, I started all over, went back to the basics,” he added. “I felt better.”

Results soon followed and after seeing his average dip to .263 in Omaha, he raised it to .311 when the Royals called him back up June 25, after they traded their all-star center fielder Carlos Beltran, to the Houston Astros.

“Looking back it was a great opportunity for me when Carlos [Beltran] left,” said DeJesus. “I got to go out and play every day and my confidence changed.

“Before, I’d play one day and if I didn’t get one or two hits, I didn’t know if I’d be in the lineup the next day.”

Settling in at the top of the Royals’ lineup, DeJesus spent the rest of the season proving he belonged in the big leagues, and he appears to be very much a part of the Royals’ future.

The former Brave played in 96 games for Kansas City and had 363 at-bats, more than enough time to determine if he could play at the Major League level. Despite that 1-for-23 start, he ended the season with a .287 batting average (106-for-363). He had 15 doubles, three triples, seven home runs, 39 RBIs and 58 runs scored. The outfielder finished the season on a 15-game hitting streak, a team best for the year (matching his own streak earlier in the season).

“I’ve batted lead-off all my life,” DeJesus remarked. “My job is to get the team off to a good start by getting on base. I don’t swing at the first pitch. I work the count and see how they are pitching me.”

The Royals have been without a lead-off catalyst since Johnny Damon in 2000. The team and manager Tony Pena believe that the search is now over and they have found that catalyst in DeJesus.

“He has a great idea about his strike zone,” noted Pena. “He goes out and he takes a lot of pitches. He’s not a guy who’ll swing at a lot of pitches out of the strike zone. He makes pitchers work and he puts the ball in play.”

DeJesus, though, isn’t sitting on his laurels.

“I did have good year,” he said. “But you can always look back and find things you can work on. You have to keep improving. I need to work on stealing bases and work on vision and my swing.”

DeJesus is already working toward the 2005 season. He’s going to Rutgers University daily, getting his weightlifting workouts in and as always, hitting. He’ll maintain that routine until January when he will report to the Kansas City Royals facility in Arizona to get ready for spring training.

“It’s stressful — there are no days off, it’s like a job,” said DeJesus. “Every day you have to show up and do the job. It’s mentally as tough as it is physically. Every day you have to be sharp.”

Having made the climb up from rookie ball and Single-A all the way to the Royals, DeJesus has had to constantly adjust to the improved level of play. But nothing compares to the Major Leagues.

“The biggest adjustment is the speed of the game, everything is much quicker,” he said. “The guys are so much stronger too.

“The pitchers don’t throw the ball straight,” he added. “The ball is always moving. They don’t let you hit the center of the bat. You always have to make adjustments.”

One of the biggest differences between playing in the Minors compared to the Majors is the information available to the players through the computer.

“We’re lucky,” DeJesus said. “There’s a little computer that holds every at-bat you’ve had against a pitcher. If it’s some guy you haven’t faced before, the computer comes into play giving you a scouting report on him.”

There are the perks as well such as first-rate hotels, good food and saying goodbye to 10-hour bus rides.

“Life is better in the Major Leagues,” he pointed out. “You stay at nice hotels and there is food there after every game, and not just pizza.

“It’s easier for you, but you have to do your job,” he added. “I look at it as a little reward. You’ve put in your time.”

DeJesus may soon not be the only area player in the Major Leagues. Former Freehold Township High School standout and Rutgers University star as well, Val Majewski, was called up by the Baltimore Orioles late in the season. He, too, is a center fielder.

“I remember playing against him in high school, he was a year behind me,” DeJesus said of Majewski. “It’s great to have someone you know [in the Major Leagues]. I hope he does well.”

DeJesus also hopes that his journey from Manalapan to the Major Leagues will have an impact on area players who share the same dream DeJesus had when he was playing for the Braves.

“What makes me most proudest is that I came from a place no one has heard of — they’re always mispronouncing it, and made it,” he said. “I want to give inspiration to people from the area. You can make it if you practice and work hard.”

They can find no better role model than DeJesus.