“Only the willing and true of heart will seek the betterment of many.” — Socrates
Socrates Brito isn’t much into philosophy, which might seem strange considering he’s named after the man who many credit as the founder of Western thought.
He has never even done a Google search on the quotations and teachings of the great Greek who, it can be argued, is one of the most influential thinkers ever.
“That name came from my dad,” Brito said with a smile. “He said Socrates was a smart guy, and that will be a great name for my kid. And that’s cool. But at the beginning, I didn’t like that name, because it was kind of a unique name back in the (Dominican Republic). Everybody said it was a weird name. But right now, I like that name. Everybody says to me, ‘You have an awesome name.’ ”
Brito knows, ultimately, names mean little. Socrates himself wasn’t born a philosopher, after all, any more than Brito was born a ballplayer; even if his baseball-loving father also bestowed his middle name — Orel — after Orel Hershiser, one of the games great pitchers in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Yet, there’s so much about Brito that’s based in both philosophy and the national pastime, even he can’t find it merely coincidental.
After 12 of the 35 games they’ve played this season, Brito’s RailRiders have been at least 10 games over the .500 mark. First baseman Chris Gittens mashed and got a call-up from the Yankees. Trey Amburgey has a hit in all but one game this season, knocked in 25 runs in 65 at-bats, and fans are clamoring to get a look at him in the Bronx, too. Shortstop Hoy Park leads Triple-A East in OPS, and the bullpen has been lights out.
Still, some of the most effusive praise RailRiders manager Doug Davis doled out to a player this season was reserved for the 28-year-old Brito, someone whose actions have always been most impressive to those in charge of the teams on which he has played.
“He has meant a lot to this club,” Davis said last month. “He’s always prepared. He’s always ready. He’s an experienced Latin American player, and it’s great for our young Latin players to be able to spend time with him, learn from his experiences. He has been tremendous, in a lot of ways, in the clubhouse and out on that field.
“I don’t know what we’d have done without him.”
Make no mistake, Brito is no slouch on the field. He’s hitting .273 with four homers and 19 RBIs, after all, and on a team with its fair share of top-of-the-order hitters in their first season facing Triple-A pitching, Davis knows the benefit of inking Brito into the middle of the order.
He’s going to get good at-bats. He’s going to get big hits. He’s going to get a professional approach.
Focus less on the numbers, though, and more about things that should matter just as much to see where Brito’s value to the Yankees organization really has been enhanced.
So much attention is placed on the “prospects,” on “the future,” it’s easy to forget Triple-A is still a learning process for many. Brito is the kind of player that helps move that process along.
As a youngster in the Arizona Diamondbacks system, he was one of the best prospects in baseball, a slugger who once had a .923 OPS at Triple-A Reno, and who also had a season in which he stole 38 bases. He played in the prestigious Futures Game for top prospects in 2015 and the Triple-A All-Star Game a few years later.
He was close to a five-tool prospect when you consider his defensive abilities, which have been noticeable on a nightly basis at PNC Field this spring. But the Diamondbacks were always most impressed by his demeanor.
His first spring training as a big leaguer, he stayed at a serviceable hotel with the Diamondbacks’ minor leaguers; not the more luxurious hotel where big leaguers made their accommodations. It was closer to the ballpark than that other one, he told reporters back then, and convenience to work mattered more than posh surroundings.
The offseason before, he spent time at the Diamondbacks’ facility in the D.R., near his own hometown and surrounded by the young players he wanted to mentor even from a young age.
“I mean, I just try to be friendly with everybody,” Brito said. “I’m open-minded to everybody. I can talk to any guy, if he has an issue. That’s just something I like to do. I like to help other guys, and they help me too.”
When he got his first extended look with the Diamondbacks in 2016, his countryman, Jean Segura, and Rickie Weeks took Brito under their respective wings and showed him how to approach life day-to-day in the big leagues. He also learned valuable lessons by watching Paul Goldschmidt, the All-Star first baseman.
“I looked at the way they played, and that’s something I like to do now,” Brito said. “Paul Goldschmidt played hard every day, and that’s something I like to do. I play hard every day. I give my 100 percent. … The thing is, when you play hard, you’re setting the tone for everyone else most of the time. Everybody looks at you and says, ‘I have to play hard to.’ You play hard, everyone will start to follow you.”
If Socrates Brito keeps hitting, the Yankees could do much worse than giving him a look, considering he’s a guy who can play all three outfield positions and swing a pretty good lefty bat. They badly need players who can do both.
But even if he doesn’t head to the Bronx, his signing has been critical, his contract worth every penny. Development can only be measured so much with Rapsodo machines and advanced metrics. Young players need an example of professionalism to complete the process, and for the 2021 RailRiders, Brito has been quite a model of that.