Batting slump in minors foreign concept to Deak By KENT SOMERS The Arizona Republic Brian Deak is caught in a world foreign to him. What he is suffering through makes no sense, because he sees no end to it. ; Deak is going through the first slump in his baseball career. Now in his second year with the Atlanta Braves organization, he is hitting only .207 for the Sumter (S.C.) Braves, about 100 points less than what he's used to. ' He is stuck in a funk thicker than the humid Sumter weather. Like the humidity, the slump seems to have no end. ; "I'm thinking about it non-stop," said the 19-year-old Deak, who graduated from Chaparral High and played at Yavapai Community College for one season. "It feels like it never ends. I keep going to the park, coming home, going to the park, coming home with the same results." ' Therein lies the problem, according to Sumter manager Buddy Bailey. To break out of a slump, a player needs to forget about it, Bailey said. But forgetting you're batting .207 is like trying to forget wrecking a car. "It's probably the first real slump he's been in in his life," Bailey said. "It's a major mental ARIZONANS IN THE MINORS adjustment for him to go through. Young guys put too much pressure on themselves. Most of it is upstairs, you get in a slump and think you can come out of it by hitting it 500 feet." Slumps in high school and college ball are easier to break out of, Deak said. "When things are going bad, you're doing it every day," he said. "In college, you're playing two or three times a week. You might have one bad game or something, then you take a couple days off and practice a little bit." Before the season started, Deak was considered the Braves' top catching prospect. He hit .325 in Pulaski, Va., in the Rookie League last year, and was one of 25 young players invited to a pre-spring training camp this year by the big league team. Now, Deak is splitting time catching with Dave Plum, who is hitting around .400, and increasing the pressure on Deak. Deak is even wishing Plum will be moved up, giving both the chance to play full-time. "It's not something I'm used to and I don't really like it," Deak said. "But I can't use it as an excuse for not hitting the ball well. " Whenever he has been in a slump, Deak has always turned to his father, Gary, to help him out of it. During a brief bad stretch last year in Pulaski, Gary visited his son and advised him to be more patient, not to lunge at the ball. The advice worked and the slump ended. Gary, however, hasn't seen his son play this summer, and Deak has been trying to make changes on his own. He has adjusted his stance, played with his swing and tinkered with his stride. Nothing has worked. , "I haven't really had one real bad game or one real great game," Deak said. This year's slump, however, is not caused by any change in his swing or his stance, or in the level of play, Deak said. "The pitching I've seen this year is the same as I saw last year; in fact it's most of the same guys," he said. "One game I go out and hit the ball good. The next day I play it's not there anymore. I can't get into the groove or anything." While his offensive play has been dismal, Deak said he has never had a better year defensively. Ironically, last year he was tagged as a good hitter but as only an averge defensive player. Deak said he has thrown out about 70 percent of runners at-tempting to steal against him. "Throwing the ball has really been my biggest improvement," he said. "He is probably the best receiver in the league," Bailey said. "He can catch and he can throw." Now, if he could only hit. After the season ends, Deak will probably play in an instructional league. There, he hopes to prove to the Braves that he can still hit. The Braves, Bailey said, aren't doubting that. "Oh, gosh yeah," Bailey said when asked if the Braves were still high on Deak. "I can't see why not. Everybody has tough times and even tough years. He is one of those players, I feel and other people feel, he is going to hit. It's just a matter of time."