Paul Hoenecke is playing a solid third base for Rancho Cucamonga this year, both with the bat and at the hot corner. A Wisconsin native, Hoenecke was drafted out of high school, but opted to go to college at UWM. When he was drafted after his senior year, by the Dodgers in the 24th round, Hoenecke signed and started on his professional career.
Not long into this year’s Cal League season, Hoenecke got called up to AA Tulsa for what turned out to be a 6-game stint at 1B. But the bulk of the season has been with the Quakes, where he’s slashing .315/.351/.498 with seven homers and 42 RBIs over 67 games.
I had a chance to speak to Paul before a game this past weekend and we talked about his career path, the brief promotion to Tulsa, and getting some time in the big-league camp in Spring Training, among other things. Paul’s a positive-energy guy and it is easy to see why it is all working out for him on the field.
WHEN YOU WERE DRAFTED IN 2008 IN THE 42ND ROUND BY DETROIT, WAS IT A HARD DECISION TO TURN THAT DOWN AND GO TO COLLEGE?
There wasn’t enough money on the table at the time to not go to college. It wasn’t life-changing money by any means. I just thought that I would go and get my degree and then I would continue my career that way. Right now I am three classes away and I plan on getting it whenever that time comes.
SO, AFTER YOUR COLLEGE CAREER AT UWM, YOU WERE DRAFTED IN THE 24TH ROUND in 2012. HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT, WAS THAT WHAT YOU EXPECTED?
That’s probably, honestly, where I deserved to be drafted because I didn’t have a great senior year. I think that’s probably where I belonged to be drafted. The year before (2011) I had an injury right before the draft and I think it cost me some potential money and where I would have been drafted after my junior year, so that was kind of hard to deal with. I broke my hand a couple of weeks before the draft, which is unfortunate. But, it all worked out good and I was just happy to get my professional career started.
DID YOU CARE WHICH ORGANIZATION DRAFTED YOU, DID IT MEAN ANYTHING THAT IT WAS THE DODGERS?
Honestly, not a whole lot. Just any organization that wanted to give me a chance to start my professional career. I was a Brewers fan growing up, honestly, but once a team drafts you, you’re going to give them 100% of your time and effort.
IN 2013 YOU HAD A ROUGH YEAR AND ONLY PLAYED 52 GAMES DUE TO INJURY. WHAT HAPPENED THERE?
Yeah, 2013 was my first year in A-ball and I started off alright the first month and then I only had a couple of weeks that were rough. But, unfortunately, I ruptured my spleen in late May or early June and it cut my season short. That was unfortunate, but I had a chance to rebound from where I was at, where I was struggling at the time.
YOUR POWER NUMBERS CAME BACK LAST YEAR AT lo-A (37 doubles, 15 homers in 128 games). NOW, THIS YEAR YOU’RE REALLY HITTING WELL, HAS THERE BEEN SOMETHING YOU’VE WORKED ON THIS YEAR THAT IS PAYING OFF? THE CAL LEAGUE IS KNOWN AS A HITTER’S LEAGUE, BUT YOU HAVE BEEN VERY CONSISTENT THIS YEAR.
Yeah, last year was a decent year for me. I made some adjustments with my swing with my coaches, they helped me out a lot. So I’m just trying to continue that this year, keep making adjustments. Learning what the pitchers are trying to do to you.
People say that the Cal League is a good hitter’s league, and there are a couple of ballparks where the numbers get inflated, but our park (LoanMart Field) is pretty true, so the numbers you see from our guys, I think, are pretty true. It’s not like it is easy to get hits in this league, it is still baseball. The wind blows out a little bit more.
But I think the pitching here is a little bit better than what I saw last year in lo-A ball. More strikes, a little more command, a little better idea what they’re doing. But it might be a little easier because they’re around the plate a little more.
SO AT THIS LEVEL, DO YOU SEE A BIG DIFFERENCE FROM THE PITCHING YOU FACED IN THE LOWER LEVELS?
Yeah, they’re a little more experienced pitchers and they throw some pretty good stuff, too. It is a jump from Rookie ball, as far as location and that they have a plan against you that is a little more of a mind game that you’re playing with the pitcher.
VERY EARLY THIS SEASON YOU WENT UP TO AA TULSA AND PLAYED 1B FOR 6 GAMES AND THEN CAME RIGHT BACK HERE. WAS THAT THE PLAN, A SHORT STAY AT 1B?
You know, I wasn’t sure. I was only here (Rancho Cucamonga) for about a week to start the season and I got the phone call one morning that I was going up to AA. It came as kind of a surprise, to be honest. I wasn’t really sure what the plan was at the time when they called me up. It was a good experience, I thought, even though I was only there for a week. To see what it was like and to experience playing time. My goal, obviously, is to get back up there at some point, so I thought it was good.
ARE YOU EXPECTING TO BE BACK UP THERE THIS YEAR?
That’s obviously out of my control, but I just have to keep going and playing each game and whatever happens, happens.
YOU HAVE PLAYED MOSTLY THIRD BASE HERE. DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE GOING UP THERE TO PLAY FIRST BASE?
Not especially, not until I got up there. It was kind of a surprise, to be honest. A little disappointing in some ways, too, the fact that they put me out of position and you kind of feel like you’re just filling a spot up there. But it is what it is, and you just got to battle back.
SO YOU FEEL YOU’RE A THIRD BASEMAN?
I’m really starting to get into a nice rhythm over there, comfortable. I love playing third base, it’s a lot of fun over there.
IN SPRING TRAINING THIS YEAR YOU WERE IN THE MAJOR LEAGUE CAMP FOR A WHILE. HOW WAS THAT?
Yeah, I played some games there, I got five or six at-bats, so that was a good experience. It’s kind of a humbling experience because you’re in the dugout with guys you watch on TV and realizing that it is the same game and you’re just going out there and competing. It was really just a fun time, honestly, some of the most fun I’ve had in my career because you’re on the biggest stage playing against the best players. That’s the ultimate goal, to try to get to the major leagues so it was a great thing to see and get that experience.
IS IT THE KIND OF THING THAT GETS IN YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU GO UP THERE FOR AN AT-BAT AND YOU KNOW THE BIG LEAGUE COACHING STAFF IS WATCHING?
For me it isn’t hard to deal with because I enjoy that. I may not get a whole lot of opportunities to show what I can do so I was pretty locked in and trying to show them that I belong. I embrace that kind of stuff.
WHO WAS THE MOST PROMINENT PITCHER YOU FACED?
I faced Wade Davis from Kansas City, I believe, and I got a hit, so that was pretty good. I’m not sure he had his best stuff at that point in Spring Training. But, nonetheless, it was fun to get out there and play against some of those guys.
THERE’S LEGENDARY TALK ABOUT THE TRAVEL IN THE MINOR LEAGUES. HOW IS THE CALIFORNIA LEAGUE TRAVEL? IT’S A PRETTY SPREAD-OUT LEAGUE.
In the Cal League, actually, the travel is very good. In terms of our division, I believe our only trip where we stayed at a hotel has been Lancaster. So, almost any team you play in your division, you’re there and back in the same night and you sleep in your own bed. Compared to the Midwest League where you could be on a bus for four or five hours, could be up to six or seven hours on a trip after a game. So I think it is a lot easier to get into a rhythm and routine here, in terms of travel.
THE QUAKES HAVE HAD A PRETTY STEADY STREAM OF MLB’ers REHABBING HERE THIS YEAR. WHAT IS THAT LIKE FOR YOU WHEN THEY’RE HERE? ARE YOU ABLE TO LEARN FROM THEM ABOUT THE JOURNEY TO THE BIGS?
Really, we just kind of watch how they go about their business and a lot of the guys go about their way in a very professional, top-notch manner. It’s good to see that they’re just out here playing the game hard like we do. It’s good that they’re just part of the team and they’re not treating us any different. None of them are here not playing hard. That’s good to see that.
One of the good things is that you usually get a pretty good spread after the game. (Laughs). So you can’t go wrong with that.
