San Diego Padres’ Chase Headley wins GIBBY Award as a breakout hitter - MLB News
San Diego Padres’ Chase Headley has been nothing short of spectacular in 2012 season and the accolades just keep on coming for the switch hitter. The latest on the list is Greatness in Baseball Yearly Award, also known as GIBBY, as a breakout hitter of the
year.
The hitter had an amazing season without a doubt in 2012. He was the leading RBI scorer in the National League with 115 runs batted in and went long 31 times as well. He had a batting average of .286 and an on-base percentage of .376 with 173 hits that include
33 extra base hits.
He has been receiving rave reviews for the good work that he has done. Past offseason he practiced with Padres’ hitting coach Phil Plantier in Tennessee. The coach was mighty impressed by the 28-year-old third baseman’s’ efforts.
"It's fun to watch a guy figure it all out and see him piece it together," Plantier said. "I don't see any reason why this isn't going to be normal production for him for the rest of his career. This is not a fluke. This is very real."
Ron Roenicke, the Milwaukee Brewers’ manager was all praise for Chase and was delighted by the numbers posted by the hitters who plays for a team that did not do particularly well in 2012. He believed that Headley is not being talked about enough in comparison
to his achievements.
"To have that [production] in San Diego, that's pretty amazing," Ron said recently. "He needs to be talked about a lot more than he has been. To have that kind of year, in that place? Phenomenal."
Headley himself enjoyed his season, particularly in the latter part where he was National League’s Player of the Month twice. He is the first Padres players to do it since Ken Caminiti did so in August and September of 1996.
Chase also received the Padre Player of the Year Award, voted for by the San Diego Chapter of the American Baseball Writers’ Association. Winning the Silver Slugger Award and the Rawlings Gold Glove were also achievements worth mentioning.
"There have been so many more opportunities," Headley said in October. "The second half has been incredibly enjoyable, especially being around these guys."
The Padres have recently made it very clear that they do not have any intentions of trading Chase. The player is under the San Diego ball club’s control until 2014. Padres remain the only team Headley has played with in his six season long Major League career.
The Padres finished with a 76-86 record in 2012 season, ending up at the fourth spot in the National League West. If Chase Headley can continue the sort of form he has shown in 2012 in time to come, we can be certain that the Padres will be performing a
lot better and Chase will be winning a lot more of these awards.
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