Young Gonzalez up for Aaron Award

08/01/2006 10:00 AM ET

By Amanda Branam / MLB.com

Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez's ability to make the impressive play a routine one with his glove did not come as a surprise to anyone.

The 24-year-old's ability to carry the Padres at times this season with his bat, however, did.

"The kid's gotten better and better," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said after Gonzalez was named National League Player of the Week for July 17-23. "To be honest, we didn't look at him as a power hitter. To be where he's at has surprised a lot of people."

With two 17-game hitting streaks on his resume in his first full season in the Major Leagues, Gonzalez is the Padres' nominee for the Hank Aaron Award.

Since 1999, the 25th anniversary of Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's all-time home run record, Major League Baseball has recognized the best offensive performer from each league with the Hank Aaron Award presented by Century 21. Past recipients include Barry Bonds (three times), Alex Rodriguez (three times), Manny Ramirez (twice), Albert Pujols, Todd Helton, Sammy Sosa and Carlos Delgado. Last year's winners, selected during balloting during the regular season's final month on MLB.com, were Boston's David Ortiz and Atlanta's Andruw Jones.

It seems the only person who wasn't surprised by the power was Gonzalez himself, who had been saying since Spring Training that if he could get consistent at-bats in the Major Leagues -- playing in a total of 59 games over two seasons with the Texas Rangers before coming to the Padres in a trade in January -- the power would come.

Gonzalez got his chance when Ryan Klesko needed shoulder surgery in the spring, sidelining him until August. It made Gonzalez the everyday first baseman for the Padres, and despite a point in early May where the San Diego native's average dipped to .223, he has been one the Friars' most dependable hitters.

The left-handed Gonzalez started the month of July with a .279 average, and by July 29, he had raised that to a steady .301. He had one of the 17-game hitting streaks to thank for the spike, a stretch that began with Gonzalez hitting seven home runs over a span of seven games.

"I'm a really streaky hitter, so I might not hit another home run for 30 more games, and everyone will say, 'Where'd the power go?' and then I'll hit another," Gonzalez said in the midst of that homer streak. "It's always been like that in my career, where I hit them in bunches."

The hits certainly came in bunches during that 17-game streak from July 6-26. In 10 of the 17 games, the first baseman had at least one extra-base hit, and he racked up 21 RBIs, helping the Padres to a winning record in July. San Diego had its troubles in the month, but Gonzalez's bat was one of the most prominent reasons for the club gaining and maintaining its lead in a tight National League West race.

For Bochy, he's happy to say that the Padres have not seen the best of the young Gonzalez yet.

"He's only going to get better," Bochy said while Gonzalez was on his home run binge. "This kid is young, and this is his first year seeing Major League pitching on a daily basis. And he's handled everything real well, especially the little skids that he has had, particularly earlier in the season. He's a guy ... he's our future there."

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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