Hickory grad doing little things on way to bigs

LAKELAND, Fla.

All in all, a nice day of work and progress for Scott Sizemore, himself a work in progress.

The kind of Saturday that makes you think the 25-year-old from Chesapeake's Hickory High will be all right. That makes you think his surgically repaired left ankle will hold up, and his much-scrutinized glove work will be solid and his routinely productive bat will be potent.

The kind of day that makes you conclude the Detroit Tigers, as they planned, have found their new second baseman. That he will more than make the team.

There's always the chance this could be premature, of course, what with the spring training schedule not even a week old. But baseball franchises do not haphazardly pour their faith and finances into prospects such as Sizemore, their fifth-round draft pick in 2006 out of Virginia Commonwealth.

That is to say, there's a reason Sizemore was at Joker Marchant Stadium to face the Baltimore Orioles on a bright, if still unseasonably crisp afternoon - because the Tigers think they will be a lesser team without him this season.

"I know anytime he wasn't in the lineup, we missed him a lot," said Detroit's first-base coach Tom Brookens, who managed Sizemore early last season at Double-A Erie, before he was promoted to Triple-A. "We weren't as good a ballclub without his steadiness. That's the kind of thing you notice."

Sizemore's latest workday was noticeable only in that it blended seamlessly into his surroundings. For Sizemore right now there is no compliment more appreciated.

Playing the first five innings of Detroit's 9-3 victory, Sizemore roped a two-out RBI single off veteran Kevin Millwood, sprinted to score from second base and also ran well enough to beat a throw to first to foil a double play.

And at second base, Sizemore deftly turned a double play with a runner bearing down on him, the type of play on which he was slid into - and his left ankle shattered - in a fall league game last October.

"As long as I don't get my leg broken again I can consider it somewhat a success," Sizemore joked afterwards. "But yeah, the day went well; I got a base knock, and when I scored I didn't even think about the ankle, which is what I've been looking for, for that adrenaline to kick in so that I don't think about it.

"A lot of doctors say the healing goes fine, but that you've got to get past your own mind."

Today, Sizemore will try to have the same kind of day, then again the day after and again the day after. That's how you play in the major leagues to stay in the major leagues. The extraordinary will come and go, and like any big leaguer Sizemore has the extraordinary in him. But nothing greater than dependability will absolutely put Sizemore where he wants to be.

"With Scott, nothing really stands out like, 'Wow, this is a five-tool guy, a can't-miss guy,' " said Brookens, who managed or coached Sizemore in three separate minor-league stops.

"But he's a player that, as you watch him over and over, you see all the things that he does. He's just a guy who knows how to play the game. He's always in the right spot, always where he's supposed to be."

That's funny, because Sizemore's whereabouts on days Detroit is home are clockwork: at his locker by 8 a.m. scarfing breakfast, into the trainer's room for ankle rehab, into the cages for early hitting, drills and batting practice at 9:30 for 75 minutes, back onto the field for the 1:05 p.m. games.

Between and throughout will come the intuitive, progressive steps to Sizemore's potential success. Bonding with teammates. Girding for the intensive deconstruction of his play from franchise, fans, media and opponents.

Especially, sticking to and sweating through extra sessions, on a tucked-away drill field, with infield coach Rafael Belliard and shortstop Adam Everett, so that Everett builds with Sizemore the reflexive double-play relationship he had with Placido Polanco, who left for the Phillies via free agency.

"The biggest thing is the trust we have in each other," Everett said, "so that he knows I'm not gonna hang him out to dry (with throws), and he's not gonna hang me out to dry."

Another trustworthy day down for Sizemore. Another day, looking up, for him and the Tigers.

Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com