Both the fearsome talent and volatile temper of Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes were on display Wednesday night.
It’s why team officials and players speak with reverence of the 24-year-old’s skills — and almost always issue a qualifier when discussing the future.
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It’s only been 13 games since Dukes returned from his third trip to the disabled list. But in that time he is 16-for-51 (.314) with five home runs, six doubles and 14 RBI. The power is there (11 home runs in 233 at-bats this season) and the plate discipline (36 walks, .380 on-base percentage) is good for a player with just 417 major-league at-bats. So if he can stay healthy 2009 should be a breakout year, right?
“There’s nothing guaranteed in baseball,” said Nats manager Manny Acta. “But if Elijah has a real good month at the end of the season here, I don’t see why — unless there’s something else out of baseball — we wouldn’t continue pursuing him as one of our future players.”
There is that qualifier again. It’s a necessity for Dukes, who produced a litany of arrests and team suspensions during his time in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.
Dukes lost his cool again Wednesday night vs. the New York Mets, yelling at pitcher Mike Pelfrey after an inside pitch Dukes believed was retaliation for a previous home run. Nothing came of the incident save for some back-and-forth with the New York fans. But for a player always on the edge, it still was unnerving.
