Waiting for his call

For the last two weeks, Chad Bentz of Juneau has been hanging with friends in Williamsport, Pa., relaxing after a successful season as a relief pitcher with the Harrisburg (Pa.) Senators, the Class AA minor league team for the Montreal Expos.

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Bentz had hoped to be among the players called up to the majors when teams expanded their rosters to 40 players on Sept. 1. Teams look at top prospects when rosters expand, trying to see who's ready to take the next step. But the Expos, who are owned by the 29 other major league teams, didn't call up any prospects this year.

"They wanted to bring me up, but they couldn't afford it," Bentz said in a phone interview from Williamsport last week.

While he was disappointed about not being called up for the last month of the major league season, Bentz is turning his attention to 2004. He was relaxing last week, but Bentz said he plans to head to California in October to start preparing for next year.

"I'm just taking some time off," said Bentz, a 1999 Juneau-Douglas High School graduate. "I'm in Williamsport, just hanging out. I'll be taking off from here and I might going back to California so I can throw all year round. This is a big year."

"Chad Bentz had a very solid season in Harrisburg, and we certainly are very pleased with his progress," Expos director of player development Adam Wogan wrote in an e-mail message.

Bentz, who didn't become the Senators' closer until midway through the season, finished the season with a 1-4 record, 16 saves, a 2.55 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 84 2/3 innings pitched over 52 games. Harrisburg finished at the bottom of the Eastern League standings with a 60-82 record, but Bentz tied for third in the league in saves with Rafael Betancourt of the league-champion Akron (Ohio) Aeros.

More important, Bentz didn't have the recurring foot problems that ended early his last two seasons and required surgery last summer.

"My body's tired, but my No. 1 concern was to be healthy," said Bentz, who only had to deal with a case of pinkeye early in the season and a pulled upper stomach muscle in August. "The biggest jump in baseball is going from single A to double A."

The Harrisburg Senators Fan Club voted Bentz the team's outstanding pitcher this year, and he also won the team's Mort Rosen Community Service Award.

"That was nice," Bentz said of the awards. "It's always nice when the fans recognize you. The Harrisburg fans are pretty loyal. It was fun. I had a good year."

While he appreciated the outstanding pitcher award, Bentz said the public service award meant a lot to him. He didn't realize the team gave one out until they called his name to present it before the Senators' last home game.

"I went to the library and read to the kids, I met a lot of people, and I helped out at the Asthma Olympics," said Bentz, who was born with a deformed right hand and uses his left hand to pitch and field. "I was meeting a lot of people like me who were missing something.

"I didn't expect the award. If there wasn't an award I'd still be doing it. I want to be known for my ability on the field, but it's just as important to be a good citizen off it. Besides, kids are fun."

Bentz was supposed to head to the Arizona Fall League in October, when he was to play for the Peoria Javelinas. But the Expos changed their minds and decided not send Bentz to the league for top prospects.

"Our initial plans called for Chad to participate in the Arizona Fall League in 2003," Wogan wrote. "However, based on the number of innings he finished the season with, we decided to shut him down. He'll now have time to properly prepare for 2004 Spring Training."

"That's fine with me," Bentz said. "Adam called me and told me they don't need to evaluate me anymore. ... I'll go down to California and work out, and I'll get back to J-Town (Juneau) for holidays. All the fall league is just a place to evaluate players."

Pitchers and catchers report for spring training in February, and Bentz said until then he'll probably work out at Long Beach State, where he attended college for two years.

Bentz, 23, a 6-foot-2, 210-pounder, was a seventh-round pick by the Expos in the 2001 draft. He spent the 2001 season in low-A ball with the Vermont Expos and the 2002 season in high-A ball with the Brevard County (Fla.) Manatees.

During spring training this year, Bentz got a taste of the major leagues when he was put on the Expos' roster for a game. He was the next pitcher scheduled to enter the game and was warming up when it ended, so didn't see any action.

"I sat next to (Expos manager) Frank Robinson on the bus," Bentz said. "It was a good experience. They get treated like royalty up there, but it takes a lot of work to get there so they deserve it."

Wogan said he hopes Bentz will be "prepared to start the season next year in Edmonton," the home of the Edmonton Trappers, the Expos' Class AAA team in the Pacific Coast League.

But Bentz wants more. He thinks he has a chance to make the major league roster.

"I'm definitely ready," Bentz said. "I'm confident I can go out there and get guys out. A buddy of mine (Roy Cochrane) got called up and I asked him if there was any difference. He said the hitters are the same and if you leave it (the ball) out there they'll hit it."

Bentz wants to pitch in Montreal next year, or wherever the Expos end up if they move during the offseason.

Groups from Portland, Ore.; the Washington, D.C., area; and northern Virginia have been trying to buy the Expos from Major League Baseball, which owns the club. There also are proposals for the Expos to play a split season with 22 of their home games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, or Monterey, Mexico, like Montreal split time in Puerto Rico this year.

"I don't care, I wouldn't mind seeing any (major league) stadium," Bentz said. "I don't really care where they are, but if I had to choose I'd go with Portland because it's on the West Coast. But I obviously have no control over things.

"My goal is to work hard in the offseason and make the staff next year. There are only two lefties in the (Montreal) bullpen right now. When the time's right, I'll go up."

• Charles Bingham can be reached at cbingham@juneauempire.com.