YGY Staten Island Yankees Top 5 Players Of The Week: (8/13-8/19)

Chris Breen-Mandatory Credit: Anthony DePrimo

1. LF Christopher Breen (.283, 6 HR, 22 RBI’s)

After being number two on the top five last week, Breen makes his way to number one this week. Primarily, Breen’s week involved a heavy dose of the long ball. His big game came Thursday night against Connecticut when he went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI’s. Breen now leads the team in home runs and has a hit in each of his last six games.

As we mentioned last week, Breen does lead the team in walks with 25, but he doesn’t exactly look for that right pitch to hit when he goes up to bat.

"“I wouldn’t say that I’m looking for the right pitch to hit, “ said Breen. “I think also I have success hitting balls that you wouldn’t picture being in the little K zone that everyone thinks about as the strike zone.”"

He would also add that “when he sees the ball well, it helps him to lay off the borderline pitches.”

Breen’s approach, according to him, has stayed simple at the plate of late, but he credits Coach Figueroa and the other coaches in Tampa over his career for his transition from catcher a couple years ago to left field/first base, where he made only two combined errors this year.

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One of the things he mentioned about the things he wants to improve on the rest of the season is to “be consistent and stay even-kiel through the highs and lows.”

When I interviewed the 12th round pick in the 2012 MLB Draft after the game Saturday, I was impressed about his focus on the team’s goals of making the playoffs when he mentioned to me:

"“It’s not about my personal goals. It’s about us getting wins as a team and if we do that, the stats and what not will take care of itself.”"