As Kyle Drabek continues to work on refining his delivery, his father Doug says a new, simplified approach is exactly what his 24-year-old son needs after a challenging, and sometimes confusing, 2011.
The elder Drabek, a pitching coach in the Arizona Diamondbacks system and the 1990 NL Cy Young award winner with the Pittsburgh Pirates, told Sportsnet 590 The Fan’s Jeff Sammut on Monday, the control problems that plagued Kyle last year became difficult to rectify in-season thanks the volume of advice he was receiving.
"It got to the point where a lot of things were going on and it was hard for him to (find) one thing to get him back on track," he explained. "I think this spring they tried to simplify things instead of having a ton of different people tell him different things and now you’ve got a young kid’s head spinning."
LISTEN HERE: DOUG DRABEK WITH JEFF SAMMUT ON SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN
After starting 2011 in the Blue Jays rotation, Kyle found himself on a plane to triple-A Las Vegas after posting a 5.70 ERA and 1.789 WHIP in 72.2 first-half innings that included an alarming 52 walks.
The numbers in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League weren’t any prettier: 7.44 ERA and a 2.027 WHIP in 75 innings. The good news? A slighter lower walk rate: 4.9 per nine, vs. the 5.9 he posted in Toronto.
According to the Blue Jays, Drabek’s loss of command stemmed from two things: over-throwing and letting his emotions get the better of him on the mound.
In an effort to address the first problem, this spring the Blue Jays have had Drabek practice finishing his delivery within two yellow ropes lying at the base of the mound. When he finishes outside of them, he knows he’s overthrown and come out of his delivery. According to Kyle and the team, the early returns have been encouraging.
As for the emotional questions, Doug says his son just needs to do a better job of hiding what’s going on inside and channel his anger in the right places.
"(Hitters) do see that and they know when they got you on the ropes," said Doug, adding he was young, high-strung pitcher as well in his early years with the Pirates. "There’s nothing wrong with being mad; just direct in the right way. Direct it to the plate. For young kids, sometimes it’s hard to grasp."
Doug added while he talks to Kyle a great deal about pitching and wants to help in his development; he feels the only way his son will reach his potential is if he finds the answers on his own.
"I’ve got to be careful not to over-preach, over-do things," he said. "I try to throw ideas at him, not preach. It’s fun watching him trying to figure it out on his own.
