ALLENTOWN, Pa.Hours before his second debut for the Triple A Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Thursday at Coca-Cola Park, Joe Savery spent some time casually shagging fly balls and doing a few light stretches. Every once in a while hed turn to chase down a ball or chat with a teammate, which is all standard in the pregame routine for a pitcher.
But for Savery, batting practice before a game typically meant some cuts in the cage and maybe a few grounders at first base. Every once in a while hes shagging flies with a purpose, mostly because he was going to be the starting outfielder.
Not anymore.
As of Thursday, Saverys role in the Phillies organization is much simpler than it had been. After making the switch from starting pitcher to slugging outfielderfirst baseman, Savery is back on the mound again in yet a different role.
Im a lefty out of the pen, Savery said with a chuckle as if he was having trouble believing the long, strange trip his professional baseball career had traversed.
Of course by this point Savery thought hed be pitching every five days behind the likes of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels in Philadelphia. Chalk it up to youthful hubris or the idea of success at nearly every athletic endeavor, but it seemed as if he believed the trip through the bush leagues would be just like punching the clock.
Hey, Joe Savery said it. There was no need to couch it other than what it was. After being drafted by the Phillies with the 19th overall pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball draft that featured the likes of David Price, Matt Wieters, Madison Bumgarner and Jason Heyward, the lefty was on the fast track. In fact, Phillies execs compared him to Randy Wolf in both style and substance.
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I really believe that either by late next year or Opening Day of '09, Savery said by way of introduction to the Philadelphia press after the 07 draft. The bottom line is I've never focused on pitching. I relied on athleticism. I'm really excited about the opportunity to focus on pitching and being around professional instruction.
I always felt like my comments were taken the wrong way, Savery said. Goals are different than expectations. I set goals, but there were struggles when I got to pro ball. I was sitting around a lot, which is something I wasnt used to, the length of the season and I was drafted less than a year out from surgery and I didnt quite come back for whatever reason.
Starting pitching takes a lot of finesse and a lot of things that I didnt have at that time.
More than four years later and a couple of position changes later, Savery is once again on the doorstep. Its been a circuitous route to be sure, but the lefty starting pitcher turned lefty slugger turned lefty reliever is getting closer to his original goal.
He wants to play in the big leagues. Period.
The goal has always been to get to the big leagues and I dont care if its as catching or pitching, I just want to play in the big leagues, said Savery, the new relief prospect. I think Im on the same page as management and right now we all think this is the best option for me.
He isnt there yet, that much he knows. However, given the modular nature of big league rosters, a stop in Philadelphia in 2011 is not farfetched for Savery. Given that his former minor league teammates Antonio Bastardo and Michael Stutes are holding down the eighth- and ninth-inning spots for the Phillies, anything can happen.
Still, if Savery gets to the big leagues, the route will be quite unconventional.
On the fast track
Selected out of Rice University following a career in which he was a starting pitcher one day a week and a starting first baseman the other days, Savery was the star of the 2007 college World Series. In the opening round of the tournament, he cracked a home run to win a slugfest against Louisville, then came back to pitch his team into the semifinals with a win over North Carolina to end his season with an 11-1 pitching mark.
Shortly before the run in the college World Series, the Phillies used their first-round draft pick on Savery with the plan to make him a pitcher, knowing well that the lefty had never been a fulltime pitcher and was still trying to find his pitching form after shoulder surgery. However, that didnt stop Savery from thinking the trip through the minors would be short. It wasnt until he got in the middle of things that he realized what he had gotten himself into.
As it turned out, it took a special kind of person to be a big leaguer.
I assumed that if I tried hard enough it would work out, Savery said.
Ah, but baseball is funny that way. Talent almost always rules the day and what talent Savery had wasnt shining through. Sure, the numbers were there in stretches, like when he went 16-6 between Double A Reading and Triple A Lehigh Valley in 2009, but his strikeouts per nine innings were down significantly from his 2008 season at Single A Clearwater.
After going 1-12 with a 4.66 ERA and 4.7 strikeouts per nine inningsa good three strikeouts per nine less than his first full seasonSavery knew he was at a crossroads. In fact, he felt like his pitching days were over and went to the Phillies brass with a proposition.
Noting that he batted .348 in 48 plate appearances for Lehigh Valley in 2010, Savery suggested that he go back to hitting fulltime. The Phillies, perhaps sensing that their top pick of the 2007 draft was fighting for his career, encouraged the idea.
What would it hurt? Certainly the Phillies had some first-round flops, but most of them at least earned a stay in the big leagues. Regardless, one would have to go back to Jeff Jackson in 1989 to find a player drafted as high as Savery not to make it to the big leagues.
Thats part of why I brought up the hitting because I was worried this was it for me on the mound, Savery said. When you dont have a lot of weapons you have to have the perfect storm for things to work out for you. That can be tough to deal with.
Who knew the perfect storm would be found gripping a bat?
Going back again
Better yet, when Savery jumped out the gate batting over .500 a few weeks into the season for Single A Clearwater, it seemed as if the experiment was off to such a flying start that the slugger would never throw a pitch again. Why would he? In 70 games between two levels, Savery batted .292 with 18 extra-base hits and an above-average on-base percentage.
Still, the door was never fully closed on pitching. Upon being promoted to Reading, Savery was called on to pitch in relief. When that went well, he was called on again. After six outings in which he threw nine innings, Savery notched 14 strikeouts, allowed one run on seven hits and no walks. He was throwing the ball harder and it was moving better. All of a sudden, he had stuff again.
Then, he was sent to Triple A to pitch again.
When you feel like you have to do it with smoke and mirrors, it can be hard sometimesespecially when youve given them the best you have and it still isnt good enough, Savery explained. In this game talent always helps, so for now, hopefully my stuff can stay where it was the past few weeks and if I have that I think I can compete with anybody.
As it turned out, the hitting just might be the reason why Savery regained his form as a pitcher. He had spent seasons trying to regain the pitching form he had during the college World Series and it turned out he left it in the field.
When I was at first base I had to shorten up my arm motion to throw in the infield and I tried to take that to the mound, Savery said. My problem as a pitcher has been to try and get my arm to catch up with my body and that shorter arm motion has allowed my arm to catch up with my body.
Its a lot simpler and its amazing because I really thought we had tried everything mechanically. Last year I was thinking why it came back briefly before the 2007 draft and its just not in there anymore. We tried long stride and hands high and hand low and be quick and be slow with pitching motion. You feel like youve tried it all to make it work, but maybe being a hitter for a few months is what makes it work.
Its funny how things have a way of working out. Sometimes a guy has to take the long way around and make a few pit stops even when he was a highly-rated, first-round draft pick. Other times guys take the direct route and have no idea how or why things are happening so quickly.
Having stopped to smell the roses a bit, Savery says he has enjoyed the experience. Hes still just 25 and young enough to not have the clock ticking on him. Besides, Ryan Howard was 25 when he got his first real look in the big leagues. The same goes for Chase Utley, too.
In that regard, Savery is right on time.
Not a whole lot is needed. Youre the lefty out of the pen, just go as hard as you can for an inning or two. Just let it fly and lets see what happens.
In the meantime, Lehigh Valley manager Ryne Sandberg did not close the door on hitting, you know, just in case.
Hes here to pitch, Sandberg said. He can hit, I go to my pitchers sometimes in a National League game. I could use him in that situation. Hes here mainly because he can pitch and to pitch. I havent been told to (use him as a DH).
Its worth noting that the Phillies could use a bat, too. As far as Savery can tell, the door hasnt been closed on hitting again, either.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com
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