THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: The gap between Triple-A and the majors is wider than just the one step

The boss is a baseball junkie.

Well, to be more exact…

The boss is a Cubs junkie.

In fact, the Tampa Bay Rays have been in Seattle for the better part of a week, they’re the defending American League champions, and I seriously doubt that he could name a half-dozen of the Rays' stars.

On the other hand…

If you want some background on the Cubs’ backup second baseman at the AA level?

Oh, yeah, he probably knows the kid’s parents.

Now, this is not to say that our boss is a doofus — nor that he has zero knowledge of baseball unless the Cubs are playing it.

After all, he needs to understand the game in order to decide which of the Cubbies belong in the Hall of Fame, and…

Which should be sold for a sack of rosin bags.

Therefore, he often asks pretty meaningful questions — the kind that don’t even require a Cubs affiliation to help gain some insight into baseball in general.

HE HIT on one of those puzzles the other day at lunch, which was slightly startling because even the Cubs drift aside when we’re gobbling down enchiladas like pigs at a trough.

“Why is there such a huge difference between AAA ball and the big leagues?” he asked.

“Has it always been that way?”

Even a Cubs fan in this part of the country would know about Jarred Kelenic, the Mariners’ poster child for stepping up from AAA and walking straight off a cliff.

I suspect a lot of fans have wondered about this same question.

Kelenic is considered a can’t-miss prospect — not just in

Seattle, but by every scout in baseball.

Yet after a couple of super years in the low minors and one exciting week in Tacoma, he was summoned to the Mariners and crashed.

By the time he was sent back down, Kelenic was hitting .096 and had an 0-for-39 streak hanging around his neck.

The MLB record for a hitless run is 54 at-bats, by the way, so Jarred had to be getting a little nervous.

It isn’t just Kelenic crashing against major league pitching, though.

Seattle opened the season with a first baseman/outfielder named Jose Marmolejos.

The M’s liked his swing, but it produced just a .139 average, so…

Yep, down I-5 to Tacoma, where Marmo is now raking to the tune of .354, with power to boot.

OK, I’M going to answer those questions from the boss in reverse order.

Was the gap between AAA and major leagues always this huge?

No.

Before MLB expanded from 16 to 30 teams, there was far more talent spread around professional baseball.

There was a time when the Pacific Coast League — with the likes of Joe DiMaggio playing in San Francisco — would have been reasonably competitive with the big league teams back East.

But filling up organizations with serious talent these days is much, much tougher.

Good AAA players are now in the bigs.

Period.

So, what else causes the gap?

Well, a lefthanded hitter like Kelenic had never faced a diet of brutal, slider-snapping lefties.

IT ALSO takes a while to realize that pitchers from either side can place the ball where they want it — and just about the time you’ve gotten your bat quick enough to hit an inside fastball…

The crafty major leaguer throws you a changeup on the outside corner at the knees.

Maybe on a 3-2 count, as well.

And you swing about a half-hour before the ball reaches home place.

Catchers can see how you’re setting up, too, and they watch what your swing looks like.

They can spring a trap, almost at will.

Young hitters come up and start getting themselves out, guessing at pitches that never seem to come.

Players like Kelenic — or even a superstar like Mike Trout, who got sent back to AAA — simply need to learn by learning.

Make the most critical adjustment of all…

Forget trying to think about it.

Do what you did in AAA, which was simple.

See the ball and hit the ball.

If you’re good enough, you WILL hit it.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, runs each Sunday.

Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published monthly during the offseason.