Eddie Gamboa on his commitment to the knuckleball

SARASOTA, Fla. - Eddie Gamboa has a better grip on his pitching future.

Gamboa has conceded after much prodding from the Orioles that he needs to go exclusively with his knuckleball. No more mixing it in 50 percent of the time. No more fastball first and then the secondary stuff.

If Gamboa is going to get back to the majors after appearing in seven games with the Rays in 2016, his only exposure to the highest level, he's going to do it strictly as a knuckleball pitcher.

"Absolutely, yeah," he said. "I threw a bullpen yesterday and I would say 100 percent of the pitches were knuckleballs. I know that's the future for me and I feel a lot better with it than I first started throwing the knuckleball. Now we show it and do the best we can with it."

Manager Buck Showalter kept pushing for Gamboa to surrender to it and noted the resistance. Gamboa wasn't ready. It's that simple.

"He had a really good point back in 2014 when I was throwing the knuckleball not enough," Gamboa said. "For me, it was more of a competitive thing. I knew I could get outs and you do what you naturally know what to do. Throw a fastball. When you're young that's the first pitch you know how to throw. But, yeah, the knuckleball, you see all the guys having success.

"R.A. Dickey, Tim Wakefield, Steven Wright, they're successful because they bought into it and that was their main priority, their pitch No. 1. I'm at that point in my career where I feel better throwing it now. I think that's the biggest thing, just having the confidence in it.

"I always wanted to commit to it, but it's like if somebody were to come to you and go, 'Hey, you've got to throw left-handed,' you don't feel too confident in it. It's tough. And to do it on the biggest stage in baseball. But for me, it's just a confidence thing and I'm throwing it a lot. Now I can pick up a ball and throw it and kill the spin. That's where I'm at now and I feel a lot better coming back to a coaching staff that believes in you and likes the knuckleball. Because not everybody likes the knuckleball. But I feel good about it, very happy and excited to move forward."

In a sense, Gamboa is taking a step back by re-signing with the Orioles last month. They selected him in the 21st round of the 2008 draft and he twice agreed to terms with them as a free agent before signing with the Rays in 2016. He had brief tenures with the Rangers and Dodgers before coming home.

"Happy to be back, absolutely," he said. "The organization that I spent eight years with and I left, kind of ventured off, but in a weird way this is family. It feels like family, although it's a business. It feels good to come back and know most of the guys and coaching staff here."

Gamboa had a brief but successful tenure with the Rays, allowing only two earned runs in 13 1/3 innings - though he also walked eight batters.

"When you're young, you think you want to make it to the big leagues. Never did I realize it would be as a knuckleball pitcher, but that's the pitch that got me to the big leagues," Gamboa said. "Since then, that's what I've been dedicating myself to and throwing it as much as I can, and trying to get better, more consistent with it, I guess is the key.

"It's a lot of stress that comes with it, a lot of wild pitches, a lot of passed balls, a lot of walks. Again, that was something that was hard for me because being a pitcher, I used to have great control. I controlled the running game. All these things that I did well, now it's it like, 'OK., I have to kind of accept them.'

"Phil Niekro was somebody who really explained that to me. You've got to accept it. You've got to move forward. You can walk the bases loaded and you can get out of it all in one inning. It's been great. The knuckleball, I've been able to meet a lot of great people, a lot of Hall of Famers. Just taking it all in. It's been a wonderful experience and I'm excited for what's to come."

The Orioles want Gamboa to lower his velocity on the pitch. Gamboa, in turn, wants to emulate Dickey.

"He does throw hard," Gamboa said. "He throws in the 75-80 (mph) range and that's somebody who I always try picking his brain. I'll send him text messages every now and then, just to get an idea and know that I'm on the right path throwing the knuckleball. Steven Wright is also a guy who really, really takes his time and kind of guides me through everything he had to go through.

"You know, it's fun. I'm happy and just trying to get better every day."

Caleb Joseph caught Gamboa's bullpen session yesterday. They used to work together at Double-A Bowie and the pairing made sense. It also felt nostalgic.

"It brought back old memories," Gamboa said. "He missed a couple. That made me feel good. I told him I'd give him $20 every time he missed one, just to make me look better.

"No, it's been great. All smiles. Just seeing everybody. But we're here to work and trying to do something better than we did yesterday."

Joseph was impressed with Gamboa's command of the pitch - or as much as someone can control it.

"It was very similar to what I remember a couple of years ago," Joseph said. "More consistent with not having spin on the ball. It's what we're looking for obviously is zero spin. But I thought he had really nice control of it. He threw a lot of strikes. When I remember catching him years ago he was just learning how to figure it out. He threw a ton of strikes yesterday, which is kind of the key with the magic ball, right?"

Unlike other catchers who dread being behind the plate for a knuckleball pitcher, Joseph gladly will set the target for Gamboa and take his chances.

"It's totally different," Joseph said. "It's a totally different feel, it's a different look. You've got to wait until the last minute to make a decision. I asked R.A. Dickey - I catch him occasionally in the offseason in Nashville - I asked him, 'How are you supposed to catch this thing?' He said, 'Wait until it stops rolling and pick it up and throw it back to me.' So that gives you an idea. You're guessing a little bit back there, too.

"You want to make sure that you just let the ball get to you, because if you try to go get it, it's going to move all over the place. It's unique. You've got to be really patient and it's kind of like a cat and mouse game. You're trying to beat the ball to the spot, but not too early because it may move before you actually catch it. It's a challenge. I'll say that."

Joseph noticed that Gamboa is more committed to the pitch. A win notched on the first day of workouts.

"He was probably 50 percent in Bowie," Joseph said. "He threw all knuckleballs yesterday. Not even a warmup straight fastball. It was 25 straight knuckleballs. Good to see. And he threw strikes.

"We've seen people have success in this division with that pitch, so you never know. If it's tough to catch, it's got to be tough to hit, so hopefully he's got one of those."

Note: Another pitcher who interested the Orioles is off the board, with Drew Hutchison signing a minor league deal with the Phillies that includes an invitation to spring training.