Spring Experimenting

Orioles second year pitcher Donnie Hart talks about working on a slider in spring training. A left-handed pitcher, he wants to improve his results against right-handed batters so the team sees him as more than a platoon specialist. This does bring risks, however.

Many springs ago, catcher Chris Hoiles was instructed to call for the changeup on every other pitch from Scott Erickson. The veteran right-handed got shelled and didn’t want to throw it again, but results didn’t matter in this case. Erickson was making the team, no matter the size of his ERA, so a little tinkering wouldn’t hurt him.

I remember interviewing left-hander Matt Riley in Jupiter, Fla. after another poor exhibition start. The kid shrugged it off, saying he was “working on stuff” to get ready for the season – oblivious to how results did matter for him and his next assignment would be in minor league camp.

Hart is closer to Riley than Erickson when it comes to job security based on his limited experience, but he’s also on firmer ground after allowing only one run in 18 1/3 innings and earning Showalter’s trust.
Let the experimentation begin.

“That’s definitely one of the fine lines that you walk whenever you’re trying to make the team and that’s certainly what I’m going into spring training trying to do,” Hart said. “It’s one of those things where you have to be in communication with the pitching coach, the bullpen coach and the manager and let them know what’s going on and what you’re trying to work on and what they see, if they see the same thing. And if they do, that’s good. If not, you’ve got to try to figure out what they’re seeing, as well, and make sure that you can prove that to them.

“That’s a conversation I’m obviously going to have to have when spring training rolls around and we start reporting. I’m looking forward to it.”

Hart pitched well at AA, but coming from college he was old for that level. He was not terrible against righties in the minors, but some improvement at the major league level would certainly help. I also like the way he’s using other pitchers as resources to gain knowledge of how to deal with the opposite side. It probably helps that he is on the Orioles, a team that is always looking for an edge and likely supportive of this kind of experimentation.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2kdd3h5