Playing Catch-up: Greene played college baseball for four years

Justin Greene's baseball career has been one on-going game of catch.

The Charleston area of South Carolina, where Greene hails from, is known as a pocket for baseball talent. Stratford High School in Goose Creek, where Greene played, has become the sweet spot of that pocket.

Catcher Matt Wieters of the Baltimore Orioles played for the Stratford High Knights. So did first baseman Justin Smoak of the Texas Rangers.

And although Greene is flourishing in his present role as center fielder with the Winston-Salem Dash, hitting .323 through 189 at-bats, with an on-base percentage of .412, he's not in the same league with Wieters or Smoak.

At least not yet.

Wieters, the fifth pick of the 2007 draft who played at Georgia Tech, is in his second season with the Orioles. Smoak, the 11th pick of the 2008 draft who played at South Carolina, broke in with the Rangers on April 23.

"It's good having a little friendly competition," Greene said. "When I check their stats and see how they're doing, it makes me feel good.

"But at the same time, it makes me feel that I'm not that far away from them."

If Greene can eventually reunite with his former high-school teammates in the major leagues, it will be obvious why it took him longer to get there. Every college in America wanted Wieters and Smoak. Not one wanted Greene.

So despite his impressive speed and athleticism, Greene was left to walk on at Francis Marion, a Division II program in Florence, S.C. Upon arrival, he underwhelmed head coach Art Inabinet.

"When I first got there, my college coach told me he didn't think I was good enough to play for him," Greene said. "He redshirted me and told me that some time in college, I'd be able to contribute.

"I started half my freshman year and after that I never left the field. So I guess I proved to him enough."

Because he played through his senior season, Greene was only four months shy of his 23rd birthday when the Chicago White Sox selected him in the 20th round of the 2008 draft.

A college player who doesn't sign until after his senior year, usually at 22, is a year behind those who sign after their junior seasons, as Wieters and Smoak did.

So Greene knew when he was assigned to Bristol of the Appalachian Rookie League in June 2008 that he had to make up for lost time. He began last season with Kannapolis of the Class A South Atlantic League before being promoted to Winston-Salem in time to play 49 games with the Dash.

"When I first came in, they made sure (to say) don't worry about my age -- just do what's asked of you," Greene said of the White Sox front office. "They told me they were going to push me because of my age, which I don't mind. It's a little push, but everybody needs a little push sometimes.

"So I think it's worked out for the best."

Manager Joe McEwing, in is second season with the Dash, said that Greene's experience in the Carolina League last July and August -- when he hit .240 in 176 at-bats -- fueled his fast start this season.

"It was a great opportunity and a great experience for him to be a part of it last year at the end," McEwing said. "He held his own, and I think going into spring training, it really opened him up to what he needed to expect here.... He was able to make those adjustments."

McEwing bats Greene ninth in the order, partly because the lineup is stacked (the Dash is hitting .299 as a team, 30 points higher than any other team in the CL) and partly because Greene can set the table for the top of the order.

The strategy has worked well enough that Greene was tied for second on the team with 40 runs scored and was third with 37 RBIs.

More to the point, the Dash, going into last night's game at Myrtle Beach, was 38-19 and in first place by five games in the first-half race of the CL's Southern Division.

Greene said he doesn't consider batting ninth a blow to his ego.

"Whether I'm hitting one, seventh or ninth, either way I have to get on base," he said.

There are good reasons Greene remains three giant steps from joining his former high-school teammates in the majors. Wieters and Smoak were polished prospects the day they left Stratford High. Greene has been a diamond in the rough, a player still learning the game's finer points.

His routes to flies in center field need work, and like all of his teammates, he needs to continue making adjustments at the plate to progress. But he's an impressive athlete who runs well enough to be clocked at 3.9 seconds to first base from the right-handed batters' box.

And he has a fire in his belly, no doubt stoked by the belief that Stratford High School in Goose Creek, S.C. should have more than two former players in the major leagues.

"He's still raw, but he's got stuff you can't teach," McEwing said. "He's fearless. When you're on the field, he's going to cut your throat out.

"When he's between those lines, he wants to beat you."

dcollins@wsjournal.com | 727-7323