TORONTO – The pitching matchup for Game 4 of the American League Championship Series could be billed as a couple things, but the most fitting — and fun — might be “The Battle of Enriched Craniums.”
In what’s shaping up to be a huge swing game in the series, the Toronto Blue Jays will send R.A. Dickey to the mound, while the Kansas City Royals will counter with Dickey’s former teammate, righty Chris Young. His height might be the first thing you notice about the six-foot-10 Young, but it stops being the focus as soon as he starts talking.
Like Dickey, Young is an intellectual athlete whose twist-riddled path to the ALCS spotlight reads like so many of those books he’s consumed over the years.
But for all the knowledge his life experience and an inquisitive nature have afforded Young — who played with Dickey over a decade ago with the Texas Rangers and more recently with the New York Mets — what Toronto should be most concerned about is his acumen for getting out big Jays bats.
Of the four Blue Jays who have double-digit at-bats against Young, only catcher Russell Martin has demonstrated real success, batting .300 with a pair of doubles in 30 confrontations to go along with six walks.
In 32 combined at-bats against Young, right fielder Jose Bautista and third baseman Josh Donaldson have whiffed eight times and have just four hits, the only one for extra bases being a double by Bautista.
Meanwhile shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is hitting .188 in 11 at-bats versus Young, though he does have four base on balls for a .400 on-base percentage.
“He’s been tough on us,” said Toronto manager John Gibbons.
Royals manager Ned Yost no doubt considered that fact, plus Young’s late-season success — he gave up just a single run during the 11.1 innings that comprised his final two outings — when he opted to tab him over Kris Medlen, who instead was called upon Monday night in the third inning to mop up the mess created by Game 3 starter Johnny Cueto.
“His last two starts of the year were really, really good for us,” Yost said of Young. “We feel like he gives us a good chance to win.”
Despite that endorsement, Young taking the bump Tuesday night wasn’t always a slam dunk in the mind of some. That’s because, as a fly-ball pitcher at hitter-friendly Rogers Centre, Young could be vulnerable.
Still, don’t expect the big guy — who gave up one run in four relief innings during Game 1 of the division series versus Houston — to approach the game any differently than he would if he were working with the security blanket provided by Kauffman Stadium’s spacious outfield back home.
“I’ve had bad games in pitcher’s parks and good games in hitter’s parks,” Young said. “The challenge is to make good pitches, execute pitches, choose the right pitches and if you do that more often than not you’re successful, no matter where you are.”
That’s coming from a guy who’s been a lot of places and overcome numerous challenges.
Selected out of Princeton by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third round of the 2000 draft, Young was part of the Montreal Expos and Rangers organizations before gaining some real traction with the San Diego Padres in 2006. That fall, he won the only previous post-season start of his career in the division series versus the St. Louis Cardinals, then appeared in the 2007 all-star game.
But the party was painfully interrupted by ongoing shoulder problems that, at one point, had Young contemplating hanging up his cleats until he gained a new lease on life with the Washington Nationals in 2013.
Despite never pitching for the Nats at the major-league level, it was during his time in Washington that Young learned the source of his troubles was something called thoracic outlet syndrome. He had surgery to remove a piece of rib and some neck muscle around a nerve and he’s been good to go ever since.
Young, who also missed two months of action in 2008 after being drilled in the face by an Albert Pujols line drive, spent last year with the Seattle Mariners before joining the Royals in the off-season. With his colourful backstory, it’s little wonder Young connected with Dickey, the never-give-in knuckleballer who beat serious odds to get here, too.
“We had some great conversations when we were together in New York,” Dickey said. “I enjoyed being around him. I enjoyed talking to him. He’s got a great mind.”
That brain — and right arm, of course — will have a huge say in where this series goes next.
