Editor's Note: ESPN analyst Tom Candiotti writes a weekly scouting report. Here is the former knuckleballer's book on Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Junior Spivey.

	Junior Spivey Second Base Arizona Diamondbacks Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI AVG OBP SLG 112 12 65 .318 .402 .506

Not long ago, shortstops and second baseman were supposed to be great glovemen first. If they provided any offensive production, it was only an unexpected bonus. Now that baseball has become an offensive game, those days are long gone -- as Spivey is proving in Arizona.

In only his first full major-league season, Spivey made the All-Star team and has become one of the National League's top two second basemen, with Jeff Kent leading the way.

When I played for the Oakland A's, I was able to watch Miguel Tejada develop his first two seasons in the major leagues. I can draw several similarities between him and Spivey.

Let's examine Spivey's breakout season.

Strengths
Spivey has skills that can certainly rival that of the Yankees' Alfonso Soriano. Although he has only 12 home runs, Spivey has exceptional power. When you watch him launch balls well over the fence and listen to the sound his bat makes when he connects, there is absolutely no doubt that Spivey will hit 30 maybe even 40 home runs in the near future. He loves to hit the ball into the gaps and get many extra-base hits, including six triples.

Aside from his numbers, Spivey likes to swing the bat and gets a lot of hits (132 in 112 games). He doesn't seem to mind going out of the strike zone to hit a pitch. He is extremely successful when he stays aggressive at the plate.

I think Spivey can be even better when he becomes more patient and more selective. These skills take time to achieve. When he does, however, his power numbers will jump dramatically. He loves to hit fastballs and can turn up the dial to hit any fastball in the major leagues.

Weaknesses
Any time a pitcher can recognize an aggressive hitter, he will try to use the hitter's aggressiveness to get him out. That means pitching out of the strike zone and making the hitter try to chase a bad pitch to hit.

Spivey fits into the mold. He has the tendency to chase balls in the dirt, up in the zone or off the plate. He isn't a disciplined hitter yet, but he is awfully good at even hitting pitches out of the strike zone.

Most pitchers who are not just throwers will try to frustrate Spivey by pitching him this way. Once a pitcher falls behind in the count to Spivey, the pitcher doesn't need to just throw a "get me over" strike because Spivey most likely will deposit it somewhere over the fence. For now Spivey is vulnerable to off-speed pitches, and that iss how most pitchers will try to get him out.

Overall
Spivey is only going to get better and better. He has the ability to be a 30-30 player now. In the future, look for Spivey to be compared to Tejada and Soriano. It's only a matter of time.

ESPN baseball analyst Tom Candiotti won 151 games pitching in 16 major-league seasons.