Notes: For Michael Blazek, it's back to the fastball
GOODYEAR, Ariz. - Fastball command is the basis of pitching but Michael Blazek realized he had gotten away from establishing it last season, with predictable results.
“It wasn’t an effective pitch for me,” the Milwaukee Brewers reliever said Sunday. “It kind of hurt me. Hitters at this level just eliminated it and were sitting on my off-speed (pitches). My off-speed is good enough to get guys out but my fastball is what protects it.”
It was a matter of cause-and-effect for Blazek, who suffered a forearm strain early in the season and stopped throwing his fastball for strikes. Even after recovering, he couldn’t regain command of his pitches, resulting in an alarming 27 walks in 41 1/3 innings.
Mix in a couple of stints on the disabled list and two assignments to Class AAA Colorado, and it was mostly a miserable experience for Blazek. In 41 outings for the Brewers, he compiled a 5.66 earned run average with a 1.911 WHIP, a sign of how often he played in heavy traffic.
It was a far cry from the 2015 season, when Blazek established himself as a reliable member of the Brewers’ bullpen, compiling a 2.43 ERA over 45 outings. In 55 2/3 innings, he walked only 18 batters, or 2.9 per nine innings, compared with his alarming rate of 5.9 last season.
“(The forearm issue) had a lot to do with it,” said Blazek, 27. “I knew something was going on, so I was trying to work around that. I knew the fastball really bothered it. I kind of shied away from it and lost the confidence and trust in it.
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“It was kind of that sophomore year that everyone has where you think you have to be better. The expectations after 2015 could have had something to do with it.”
With that backdrop, Brewers pitching coach Derek Johnson sat down with Blazek at the outset of this camp and said it was time to get back to the basics of pitching — throwing his fastball for strikes.
“D.J. said, ‘The biggest thing we want to do this spring is work on your fastball and get back to using that as a weapon,’ ” Blazek said. “Last season, the way I was using my fastball really wasn’t throwing it for strikes. It was more like for effect.
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“The biggest thing is just getting the confidence back in throwing my fastball for strikes. It’s been better the last four outings. There have been some hits, but the difference is the trust I have when the catcher puts (the sign for a) fastball down.
“It’s still a process in locating it and throwing it for strikes, to give myself a chance. I’ve been doing that a lot better the last three or four outings. There are still things I need to work on.”
After a couple of rough early appearances, Blazek has been sharper with his command. Overall, he has allowed eight hits, two walks and four runs (6.00 ERA) with seven strikeouts.
Blazek has a minor-league option remaining and there is stiff competition for bullpen spots, so there is a lot at stake for him this spring. As simple as it sounds, it all comes down to throwing enough strikes.
“I think he’s on track with that,” manager Craig Counsell said. “That has to come first. Strikes have to come first, then the quality and power and nastiness he has come second.
“He walked far too many hitters (in 2016). To his credit, he is addressing it.”
Long, long road: All eyes were on Taylor Williams in his live batting-practice session on Saturday, as the young right-hander moves toward the final stage of his comeback from Tommy John surgery in 2015.
But it turns out that Dustin Houle, Williams’ catcher for those few at-bats, has battled his way back from his own Tommy John surgery as well as a laundry list of other injuries that have made him a case study in persistence.
Houle hadn’t even played a game for the Brewers as an eighth-round draft pick in 2011 before breaking the hamate bone in his left hand. He underwent surgery and missed that whole season.
Houle played at three levels over the next two seasons, including a brief stint at Class A Wisconsin, before injury struck again. That time Houle herniated a disc in an off-season weightlifting session, necessitating a cortisone injection.
He healed up in time for spring training in 2014, but then suffered a broken right thumb after taking a foul tip off of it. That healed, then Houle blew out his right elbow and had to have it rebuilt.
After that came a torn hamstring. Houle finally returned to health and played the final portion of the 2015 season before playing in 96 games split between advanced Class A Brevard County and Class AA Biloxi in 2016.
And all that before the ripe old age of 23.
"It's been a grind," said the 6-foot-1, 208-pound Houle, a native of Penticton, British Columbia. "It kind of makes you who you are."
Houle's persistence has paid dividends, though. He's participating in his first major-league spring training and was one of five catchers remaining in camp as of Sunday. Houle's primary value lies in catching bullpens, and he sees occasional mop-up duty in games with Jett Bandy, Manny Piña and Andrew Susac engaged in a three-man battle for two opening-day roster spots.
Not that he's complaining.
"It’s unbelievable. It’s the most fun I’ve had playing ball," said Houle, a .231 hitter with five home runs and 80 runs batted in over 237 career minor-league games. He's 3 for 7 with two doubles and an RBI in seven Cactus League at-bats after singling against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.
"It’s kind of a reward for all the time I put in. Drafted in 2011, extended for a while, lower levels of the minor leagues. It’s just been a treat.
"I’m very appreciative of being over here and getting a shot in front of Couns and (bench coach Pat Murphy) to show them what I’ve got."
