rockin500
03-20-2003, 11:09 AM
MESA, Ariz. -- Last spring, Mark Guthrie was a frustrated pitcher. Something wasn't right. He grabbed a catcher and headed down to the bullpen. Al Jackson, a coach with the New York Mets, was walking by, stopped and made some suggestions.
It was an epiphany for Guthrie.
"I think you can go through each camp, each year with each team and you can hear things and people trying to convey the same message," said Guthrie, now a reliever for the Chicago Cubs. "But I think sometimes the delivery is more important than the message itself."
Mike Remlinger and Dave Veres, two other veterans in the Cubs pen, also had such magical moments. More on them later.
Whatever Jackson said made sense to Guthrie, who, after 12 big-league seasons, finally figured things out after a couple bullpen sessions.
"It was really invaluable to me," said the left-hander, who responded with a 2.44 ERA in 68 games with the Mets.
John Franco, longtime Mets closer, reinforced Jackson's message. Neither Franco nor Guthrie are considered flame-throwers. Franco relies on his changeup, Guthrie on his split.
"My goal was to figure out why he was having more success than me," Guthrie said. "He changed my style and my pitch selection and the way I go about my business on the mound."
So Guthrie studied films. One of the lefties he looked at was Remlinger, and Guthrie noticed Remlinger was one of the few pitchers to establish the inside part of the plate. And Franco reinforced that theory during games when the two would sit in the bullpen and talk baseball.
"Things have changed in the game and that was (Franco's) theory," Guthrie said. "The same thing that got hitters out 10 years ago, doesn't get left-handed hitters out today."
Good left-handed hitters can hit the ball out of the park the other way because they're strong enough. That means pitchers need to throw more inside.
"Actually, live inside," Guthrie said, noting there are some exceptions.
But a pitcher can only make the adjustment if he wants to.
"Exactly," Guthrie said. "I talked to Remlinger about this. We talked about trying to establish the inside part of the plate."
Remlinger's epiphany came in Spring Training 1999 when he was with the Atlanta Braves. Tom Glavine started the game and struggled. So did Remlinger.
"I was trying to impress everybody and prove that I belonged in a Braves uniform, and I just really struggled," Remlinger said. "I came in afterward and asked Tommy how he felt. He said, 'I have no idea what I'm doing right now.' And I said, 'Really?'
"I just figured guys with that much success and continued consistency year to year, Spring Training was all about getting in baseball shape and they didn't have to work on much," Remlinger said.
"For me, it brought in a comfort level that we're all working from the same level here. For the most part, you're all going through the same struggles and trying to iron out the same problems in Spring Training and that's the main reason we're here."
Remlinger, who may be inserted into the closer role temporarily while Antonio Alfonseca recuperates from a hamstring injury, says he looks at Spring Training as a chance to experiment.
"It's kind of like being a kid in school for the first day," he said. "What did you do here? The more you talk about hitters, the more you refresh yourself about what you need to do or the more you learn about what you need to do."
Veres learned a lot from the late Darryl Kile, who was his teammate in Colorado. Veres even considered quitting, but a minor league coach encouraged him to keep at it. He does the same pregame routine that he learned from Jerry DiPoto.
But in spring 2000, Dennis Eckersley was a guest coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. Veres was there.
"He was one of the first guys who told me he was afraid of failure," Veres said of Eckersley, who ended his stellar career with 390 career saves. "It felt good to hear a guy of his stature and his credentials admit that."
That year, Veres saved 29 games for the Cardinals. Pitchers don't have the same cushion that hitters do.
"As a hitter it's different. You have 600 at-bats," Veres said. "One game for me, two games for me, could be the whole season. You have to be mentally tough to handle the failure."
Again, it was a moment. And someday Guthrie, Remlinger or Veres may be a part of a young pitcher's epiphany.
"The one thing I've been able to realize as I get older," Guthrie said, "is that it's unbelievable how much you can learn every year. Last year was probably the most I've ever learned in any season that I've played."
You just have to want to learn.
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/chc/news/chc_news.jsp?ymd=20030319&content_id=224890&vkey=spt2003news&fext=.jsp
It was an epiphany for Guthrie.
"I think you can go through each camp, each year with each team and you can hear things and people trying to convey the same message," said Guthrie, now a reliever for the Chicago Cubs. "But I think sometimes the delivery is more important than the message itself."
Mike Remlinger and Dave Veres, two other veterans in the Cubs pen, also had such magical moments. More on them later.
Whatever Jackson said made sense to Guthrie, who, after 12 big-league seasons, finally figured things out after a couple bullpen sessions.
"It was really invaluable to me," said the left-hander, who responded with a 2.44 ERA in 68 games with the Mets.
John Franco, longtime Mets closer, reinforced Jackson's message. Neither Franco nor Guthrie are considered flame-throwers. Franco relies on his changeup, Guthrie on his split.
"My goal was to figure out why he was having more success than me," Guthrie said. "He changed my style and my pitch selection and the way I go about my business on the mound."
So Guthrie studied films. One of the lefties he looked at was Remlinger, and Guthrie noticed Remlinger was one of the few pitchers to establish the inside part of the plate. And Franco reinforced that theory during games when the two would sit in the bullpen and talk baseball.
"Things have changed in the game and that was (Franco's) theory," Guthrie said. "The same thing that got hitters out 10 years ago, doesn't get left-handed hitters out today."
Good left-handed hitters can hit the ball out of the park the other way because they're strong enough. That means pitchers need to throw more inside.
"Actually, live inside," Guthrie said, noting there are some exceptions.
But a pitcher can only make the adjustment if he wants to.
"Exactly," Guthrie said. "I talked to Remlinger about this. We talked about trying to establish the inside part of the plate."
Remlinger's epiphany came in Spring Training 1999 when he was with the Atlanta Braves. Tom Glavine started the game and struggled. So did Remlinger.
"I was trying to impress everybody and prove that I belonged in a Braves uniform, and I just really struggled," Remlinger said. "I came in afterward and asked Tommy how he felt. He said, 'I have no idea what I'm doing right now.' And I said, 'Really?'
"I just figured guys with that much success and continued consistency year to year, Spring Training was all about getting in baseball shape and they didn't have to work on much," Remlinger said.
"For me, it brought in a comfort level that we're all working from the same level here. For the most part, you're all going through the same struggles and trying to iron out the same problems in Spring Training and that's the main reason we're here."
Remlinger, who may be inserted into the closer role temporarily while Antonio Alfonseca recuperates from a hamstring injury, says he looks at Spring Training as a chance to experiment.
"It's kind of like being a kid in school for the first day," he said. "What did you do here? The more you talk about hitters, the more you refresh yourself about what you need to do or the more you learn about what you need to do."
Veres learned a lot from the late Darryl Kile, who was his teammate in Colorado. Veres even considered quitting, but a minor league coach encouraged him to keep at it. He does the same pregame routine that he learned from Jerry DiPoto.
But in spring 2000, Dennis Eckersley was a guest coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. Veres was there.
"He was one of the first guys who told me he was afraid of failure," Veres said of Eckersley, who ended his stellar career with 390 career saves. "It felt good to hear a guy of his stature and his credentials admit that."
That year, Veres saved 29 games for the Cardinals. Pitchers don't have the same cushion that hitters do.
"As a hitter it's different. You have 600 at-bats," Veres said. "One game for me, two games for me, could be the whole season. You have to be mentally tough to handle the failure."
Again, it was a moment. And someday Guthrie, Remlinger or Veres may be a part of a young pitcher's epiphany.
"The one thing I've been able to realize as I get older," Guthrie said, "is that it's unbelievable how much you can learn every year. Last year was probably the most I've ever learned in any season that I've played."
You just have to want to learn.
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/chc/news/chc_news.jsp?ymd=20030319&content_id=224890&vkey=spt2003news&fext=.jsp