Hope for the future in San Diego: Kyle Blanks

Posted on April 1, 2010

Kyle Blanks of the San Diego Padres waits in the on deck circle during a spring training game against the Kansas City Royals on March 17, 2010 at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

Believe it or not there is hope for the San Diego Padres, and that hope lies in their outfielder/first baseman of the future Kyle Blanks. I had the opportunity to photograph the gigantic young Padres slugger during spring training last month while on assignment for Sports Illustrated. Blanks was to be featured in the Padres scouting report in the baseball preview issue so we needed many different looks at him, so I shot him two different games to give the editors as many different pictures to choose from as possible.

I remember seeing Blanks last year when I shot the Padres at their spring training home in Peoria, Arizona. I could never forget him. He was HUGE! He was by far the largest position player I had ever seen on a big league diamond. When I was assigned to shoot him this year I did not need an explanation on who he was. How could I forget Kyle Blanks? I never had the chance to shoot Blanks last season after he joined the big club, so this would be my first real chance to concentrate on him.

The first game I shot him in Surprise (the best park in the Cactus League!) I knew we would need more than just batting pictures of him, so I started shooting him from third base so I could get him turning at the plate from the right side, running the bases and making plays in left field.Blanks did not disappoint as he scalded the ball all over the ballpark, resulting in several nice sequences of him swinging the bat (see below). He also ran the bases well and slide nicely into second base for me (see above).

I had a second chance to photograph Blanks a few days later back in Surprise, and this time I shot from inside first and outside first do add some variety to the stuff I shot from third base. This time I was able to get some portraits of Blanks in the on deck circle with the great back light they have in Surprise (see top). By the time I was done with this game I knew I had enough for my editors so they could have many different images to choose from. They ended up choosing the above picture of him sliding into second base, which was fine with me.

Blanks has had a real nice spring training so far, accumulating a .386 batting average to go along with one home run and 13 runs batted in over the course of 57 at bats. He will get the starting nod for the Friars in left field on opening day next week, and I look forward to shooting him in San Francisco in May when the Padres make their first trip of 2010 to the Bay Area. The Padres finished strong in 2009 and with young players like Blanks in their lineup I expect them to surprise some people this season.