Nationals' Derek Norris Rewriting Minor League Record Books

When the sale of the Washington Nationals to the Lerner family was finalized a couple of seasons back, many promises were made to their still optimistic fan base. Perhaps the keystone to their business plan was the restocking and replenishing of baseball’s most barren farm system.

Certainly, things are better now than they were that day, but even after five amateur drafts since moving to Washington, the minor league system is still lagging. While there are some very promising players within the system, there is still not enough to make a real difference yet.

At each level, there are one or two players who could one day make it to Nationals’ Park. That's a start to be sure, but still not enough to create a strong organizational foundation.

Only two of the Nationals’ top-10 rookie prospects (Chris Marrero and Ross Detwiler) were first-round picks. And while we watch and wait for our “name” prospects to mature, we miss those late round picks who come from nowhere and become integral parts of the team.

Team ace John Lannan was an 11th round selection in 2005. Craig Stammen was selected a round later the same year. Nick Johnson was taken by the Yankees in the third round in 1996. Josh Willingham was a 17th round selection by the Marlins in 2000 and the recently acquired Nyjer Morgan was a 33rd round afterthought by the Pirates two years later.

Is it no wonder then that many Nationals’ fans are wondering where catcher Derek Norris came from? Norris, 20, is tearing up the South Atlantic League for the Hagerstown Suns and is on pace to rewrite the team’s-and the league’s-record books.

As of Thursday morning, Norris is on pace to hit .319-36-114 with 161 hits, 36 doubles, 80 walks and a 1.014 OPS. He’s leading the league in virtually every offensive category and is third in the entire minor league universe in home runs.

And we really didn’t even hear his name until last fall.

The Washington faithful were so elated with the team's 2007 first-round selection of pitcher Ross Detwiler that the other players taken that day ended up being little more than names on a page.

Oh sure, second-round pick Jake Smolinksi and third rounder Steven Souza were known commodities, but when you get to the fourth round, you typically find organizational-type players who fill holes in the minor league system until someone better comes along.

From 1999 through 2004, after all, the best players drafted in the fourth round were pitchers Jonathan Papelbon and Cliff Lee. The rest were marginal fourth-outfielder types and starting pitchers who ended up in the bullpen if they even made it to the major leagues.

Only one out of four players drafted in the fourth round in those years made it to the major leagues, and less than four percent became everyday players, so it's no wonder then that no one took notice of Derek Norris when he was selected as the 130th player in the 2007 amateur draft.

He was just another high school catcher with little chance to make it in the majors.

Or so we all thought. He just may prove us all wrong.

Norris grew up in Goddard, Kansas, a Wichita bedroom community. He was named to the 2007 Louisville Slugger All-American team and was selected as Gatorade's Baseball Player of the Year for the state of Kansas.

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