TinCaps manager Jose Valentin mourned his team’s batting in a loss Wednesday.Fort Wayne was even worse in a pair of games Thursday.FORT WAYNE – B.J. Guinn tried to beat out a ground ball to first base during a game in the last week of spring training.
He ended up tearing his left quadriceps muscle.
The second baseman/shortstop rehabbed for two months in Arizona. Once he got back into running form, he spent time in San Diego’s short-season A club in Eugene, Ore., and Advanced-A Lake Elsinore, Calif.
Now he’s with Fort Wayne.
“I’m doing all right. It’s a process,” Guinn said last week.
“Things don’t happen overnight. I’m just trying to stay on top of things, stay healthy and stay on the field.”
Guinn has played 11 games with Fort Wayne since joining the team July 31. He has a .243 average with three RBI, two runs scored and four stolen bases.
Guinn and the TinCaps return to Parkview Field today to begin a four-game series against Dayton.
Guinn said the injury is “progressively getting better.”
“The biggest adjustment is learning how to deal with some of the pain,” he said. “Knowing what you can or can’t do on a given day and knowing what your limits are. Basically, you’ve got to stay on top of it each day and listen to your body.
“The body will tell you what’s going on. If you don’t listen, if you are stubborn, it will react.”
This is Guinn’s second go-around with the TinCaps. The 23-year-old played in 123 games last season and had a .245 average. Guinn stole 34 bases, scored 49 runs and drove in 34 runs.
Guinn, a California native who was an 11th-round pick in 2010 out of California-Berkeley, gained a lot from his first experience with Fort Wayne.
“Learning how to play every day is the biggest one,” Guinn said. “You go into your first full season and you play over 100 games. Being able to get out there day in and day out, it’s the same grind for five or six months, that was a huge adjustment.
“Learning how to have consistent at-bats, consistent defense each day, is a real big adjustment, especially as a young player.”
Guinn’s rehab has included “a lot of ice.”
“Once it starts getting a little better, you start getting into strength stuff. And then you gradually run here and there. ‘OK, I can run this fast this week.’ You keep gradually building up,” he said.
“Muscle injuries are very tedious. If you push them too much, they’ll just go right back to zero. You’ve got to be real careful with them. At the same time, you’ve got to stay on top of it.”
Guinn had a .184 average with seven RBI in 13 games in Eugene. He hit .227 with two RBI in 14 games with Lake Elsinore.
He just wants to contribute, regardless of whether it’s spending the rest of the season with the TinCaps or going to a higher level.
“I’m here. One day at a time is how I take it. They have me here to do a job, and that’s what I’m going to do,” Guinn said. “I’m going to play hard every day, and I’ll let them make all the other decisions.”
