RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Manhattan College Athletic Department will highlight former Jasper baseball standouts during the summer tracking their progress within their respective minor league organizations. The series will keep fans up to date in the Jaspers quests to reach the Major League. The second installment features Nick Derba '07 who is playing within the St. Louis Cardinals organization.
Derba looking to make leap
By Ronak Patel
Even if it was a brief cameo, ex-Manhattan College great Nick Derba '07 got a taste of something he has been shooting for since being selected in the 30th round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Derba, a catcher who completed his Jaspers' career as the school's all-time leader in runs scored (172), played briefly for the Memphis Redbirds -- the Cardinals' Triple AAA affiliate -- in April because of an injury to one of their regulars. He played in three games and went hitless.
Now repositioned at Single-A Palm Beach, Derba was ecstatic to play at the highest level of Minor League baseball.
"It was great, even for a short period of time," said Derba of his Triple AAA experience. "It was nice to know I was still on their radar; just to get a look at what it is like to be in Triple AAA was a really good confidence boost for me.
"I realized that I can play with these guys. I felt like I belonged and it was nice to be up there to get that experience."
Derba, known for his defensive acumen, is picking up steam with his bat lately. After getting off to a slow start, the College Point, N.Y. native has hit a home run in two of his last four starts (June 3 and June 4). They were his first two homers of the season, and now he is hitting .271 to go along with eight RBI in 48 plate appearances.
"For the last two seasons, I've worried about where I thought I should be and where I wasn't," said Derba. "This year, my priorities have changed; my values have changed and I realized I have to enjoy where I am at right now.
"Because I may not be able to play tomorrow; I consider this a blessing."
Derba is currently in a platoon with fellow catcher Tony Cruz (.282, 1 HR, 25 RBIs). With three more catchers on their way into the organization after being selected in the 2010 MLB Draft earlier this week, Derba is aware that things can change in a hurry.
"I prepare everyday like I'm going to play," said Derba. "If I get in, I get in, if I don't, then I'll do whatever I can to prepare, because I may go in the next inning.
"If I don't get in that next inning; I prepare myself for the next inning. It's really about being in the present the whole time."
Jaspers' coach Kevin Leighton, who coached Derba for two seasons at Manhattan, gave his ex-catcher the ultimate compliment a coach can bestow on a player.
"(Nick) Derba was just a competitor, he was tough," said Leighton. "He was the type of guy that never had an excuse and just played the game hard. Derba was one of the best workers we have ever had.
"He is someone we still make comparisons. Sometimes I bring his name up and say '(Derba) would have done this' or 'his hustle would have made us a play, backed up a base or saved us a run.' He did all of the little things that made us good."
It's been a mere three years since he's been out of Manhattan, but Derba, who maintains a close relationship with the current coaching staff, looks back with fondness on his days in a Jaspers uniform.
"(Coach) Leighton came in and he instilled a different attitude on our team," said Derba. "We had a bunch of hard-nosed ballplayers on the 2006 team. We had good talent and were a bunch of guys who loved to play the game. We were certainly not afraid to get our hands dirty.
"Everyday we had fun and we left everything we had on the field. It all paid off in the long run."
