masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgSARASOTA, Fla. – When the Orioles hired Roger McDowell as pitching coach in November, they got a man with a strong resume in the position. McDowell, who replaces Dave Wallace, spent the last 11 seasons as the Atlanta Braves pitching coach.
During that run, the Braves ranked fourth in the majors with a 3.88 ERA, including a 3.58 ERA from a bullpen that ranked second in the major leagues. The staff ranked in the top five in ERA from 2009-2014 and led the majors with a 3.18 ERA in 2013. Braves…

SARASOTA, Fla. – When the Orioles hired Roger McDowell as pitching coach in November, they got a man with a strong resume in the position. McDowell, who replaces Dave Wallace, spent the last 11 seasons as the Atlanta Braves pitching coach.

During that run, the Braves ranked fourth in the majors with a 3.88 ERA, including a 3.58 ERA from a bullpen that ranked second in the major leagues. The staff ranked in the top five in ERA from 2009-2014 and led the majors with a 3.18 ERA in 2013. Braves relievers registered a 2.88 ERA from 2011-2014, the best mark in the majors.

McDowell-Braves-Sidebar.jpgIn Baltimore, McDowell will work closely with new bullpen coach Alan Mills, who has spent the past five years as a pitching coach in the O’s minor leagues. The two men were teammates on the 1996 Orioles.

McDowell has now had some time to get to know his new pitchers. He first worked with them on the field during the pitching minicamp in January. The work continues here in Florida.

During an interview yesterday at Ed Smith Stadium, McDowell talked about how he is fitting in with the Orioles, working with manager Buck Showalter and much more.

When you were hired, you said, “You can’t rush the process” in terms of getting to know the pitchers and earn their trust. How is that coming?

“Good. Yesterday (Sunday), I guess probably after the game, it was something I was thinking about, as well. Learning the guys and their personalities, a lot of that takes place with the competition and seeing the reactions and questions they may have after an inning or after their outing.

“The process in spring training, it’s like when you are hitting balls on the range. In spring, you want to get in your work in and your innings and prepare your pitches, but that process starts again in the regular season. Because that is a different dynamic.”

What is it like working with Showalter?

“Fantastic. But again, it’s not the regular season yet. I’m not saying it’s going to be different, but it is because the games count. That being said, I was a great admirer of Buck before. And just being around him on a daily basis and (seeing) the preparation and team professionalism, it just reinforces the admiration that I had for him across the side.”

A broad question here: Do you have some general philosophies for your pitchers? Obviously, you coach different guys different ways, but are there any basics that you really believe in?

“Well, I think it is industry-wide. First-pitch strikes. Command of the fastball throughout the count. Having a secondary pitch you can throw when behind in the count. Having a pitch that you can get swings and misses on. And, in some instances, having a one-pitch go-to. Like a guy with a good sinker that can get two outs with one pitch.

“I won’t say these are generalities, but they are pretty universal across the board. But probably the basic philosophy is that not everyone is under one umbrella and no one way works for everybody. That is the process we talk about and it is my job to learn the individual and how can we get that one individual to have success.”

What makes a good pitching coach?

“There are a lot of things that go into being a successful pitching coach. There are a lot of dynamics that go into it. Knowing the game, understanding the length of the season. Understanding your pitchers. Psychology helps quite a bit from the standpoint of how to communicate with everybody and everybody is not the same.

“There’s somewhat of (being) the father figure. You are kind of given the role of leadership of a staff and also having leadership within that staff. The veteran guys become very, very important in terms of having the same message throughout. So I think there are a whole lot of different dynamics of a successful, not only a pitching coach, but in any industry, it’s adapting with the times and keeping up to date with what your players are going through.”

What is your take on velocity? How important is it? We seem to focus on it with every pitcher. Are we too reliant on that and how important is it?

“I think we see now in major league bullpens, velocity is a big part of the equation. Maybe not so much from the starters, but the relievers. You see industry-wide guys that come out of the bullpen have the higher velocity.

“So I think with higher velocity, there are times when that is beneficial. You can velocity over some mistakes you make in the zone. Ultimately, for me, it comes down to, whether you throw 85 or 95 (mph), what you are able to do in terms of commanding the fastball. That is the most important part of the sequencing of pitches.

“Some guys, take a Chris Young for instance, who maybe tops out at 88 (mph). But because you don’t see the ball very long and he pitches at the top of the zone and he has success. Guys with better velocity sometimes get away with mistakes because of it.

“With velocity, you have a low, high and a comfort zone. Probably the most important one is, in a controlled effort, what is our velocity that we can command the fastball. That is what I’ve always looked at. What is a controlled velocity? That is a lot of things. Staying within yourself, staying within your delivery and being able to execute pitches.”

In a few days, I’ll publish more of my interview with McDowell.