After injury-plagued starts and stops, Jeff Bianchi's pro baseball career is getting some traction.
Bianchi, a 21-year-old Lampeter-Strasburg grad, will receive the Frank White Defensive Player of the Year Award from the Kansas City Royals as part of the club's Fan Fest Jan. 16-18 in Kansas City.
The award goes to the organization's top defensive player. Bianchi played second base last season for the Wilmington (Del.) Blue Rocks of the high-Class A Carolina League.
"Overall, it was a pretty good year," Bianchi said Wednesday. "I got a lot of good feedback from scouts and player-development people."
Bianchi was a first-team USA Today All-American while leading L-S to the state Class AAA championship in 2005. He turned down big-time college baseball to sign with the Royals after being a second-round selection in the June 2005 draft.
It hasn't been a pleasure-cruise since.
Bianchi was slowed with back problems in 2005, then with shoulder soreness that led to surgery in 2006.
Although 2007, at Burlington (Iowa) in the Class A Midwest league, was injury-free, that season was shortened at the beginning by surgery to the shoulder.
He spent three weeks early this season on the disabled list with a hamstring pull.
Since then, no injuries. Not one.
"I started out slow [this year]," Bianchi said. "After the injury, I really turned it around."
Bianchi was seen as a five-tool shortstop when he was drafted. But he's not a big guy (6-0, 175) and may be evolving into an old-style middle infielder, more Aparicio than Ripken.
He moved to second base last season in order to play every day, and had just seven errors in 104 games. It may not be a permanent move.
"In [2008] spring training, I played shortstop the whole time," Bianchi said.
"Once I got a few games under my belt I was pretty comfortable at second. I enjoyed playing there."
Of course, to get to the big leagues, he's going to have to hit. The numbers last season (.255, .290 on base, .442 slugging) were OK, maybe better than that for a middle-infielder but worse for a cleanup guy, which Bianchi was at times.
That gives you an idea what hopes the Royals have invested in him.
There are some interesting things inside the numbers: Twenty walks in 396 ABs isn't good, but suggests upside.
Oddly, almost all his power — all 10 of his homers, 39 of his 49 extra-base hits and 50 of his 61 RBI — came against right-handed pitching, and he's a right-handed hitter.
Most of his best stuff came after the injury. He was named Carolina League player of the week in August.
For what it's worth, the Royals' starting middle infielders are reasonably young, 27-year-old Mike Aviles at short and Alberto Callaspo, 25, at second. Both hit some last season.
Bianchi will settle for AA this year, meaning the Northwest (Arkansas) Naturals of the Texas League.
"I was told possibly Double-A, possibly back to Wilmington," Bianchi said of 2009.
"They do want me to go to Arizona (instructional league), and they expect me to take all my reps there at shortstop."
No, he doesn't regret not going to college.
"I was just talking to a scout the other day and he asked me the same question," Bianchi said.
"My answer was no. Where I'm at today, with four years in pro ball under my belt, it's a win-win situation."
Mike Gross is assistant sports editor of the Sunday News. E-mail him at mgross@lnpnews.com. 
