Monday, November 9, 1998
There’s nothing
minor about
this talent
Pitchers with Hawaii ties are
By Al Chase
making a major impact in minor
league baseball
Star-BulletinThree pitchers with Hawaii ties performed well enough at the minor-league level this past summer to have their stories told in Baseball America.
Former Hawaii Rainbow hurlers Paul Ah Yat and Jay Spurgeon received notice as "Best Pitcher" and "Keep an Eye On," respectively, in BA's minor league year-end analysis for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles.
Kyle Kawabata was the main subject of the Philadelphia Phillies organizational report in BA at midseason when the Kailua resident saved 17 games in his first 23 appearances for Clearwater in the Class A Florida State League.
Ah Yat was a combined 11-8 for Lynchburg, Va., (Class A Carolina League) and Carolina (Zebulon, N.C.) of the Class AA Southern League. He struck out 137 while walking just 34.
"He's definitely a finesse left-hander. I don't think anybody is smart enough to say 'hey, this is how far he can go.' You have to let him settle in and play at the different levels and the hitters will end up telling you," said Paul Tinnell, Pittsburgh's director of player development.
"The radar gun is not going to tell you (how successful he'll be). He has a great feel for pitching and has to continue to do that. He'll just have to prove it on each level."
Ah Yat was home for a week, then received a call to report to the Arizona Fall League, a circuit that features top Class AA and AAA players.
"The league attempts to be somewhat of a finishing school for players who hope to get to the big leagues," Tinnell said. "It's a good challenge for Paul."
Spurgeon began the season in the bullpen. He started once for an injured teammate and never left the starting rotation while leading Delmarva (Salisbury, Md.) to the second-half title of the Class A South Atlantic League.
"I just pitched well. I just never gave them an opportunity not to start me," Spurgeon said.
"He was probably considered (in spring training) as a guy who would pitch a lot of innings either as a starter or middle guy," said Don Buford, Baltimore Orioles assistant director of player development. "He threw strikes and had good command. Whatever positive you say is right for him because he did a good job for us."
Spurgeon gave lot of credit to pitching coach Dave Schmidt for helping him gain a better grasp of pitching this year.
"He didn't over-teach, but he worked a lot on the approach to pitching and the mental things," said Spurgeon, who had an 11-3 record and 2.64 ERA.
The 6-foot-6 right-hander became very confident using his slider and wants to gain that same confidence with the change-up next year. He will work out full-time in the off-season rather than attend school.
Kawabata (Washington State) finished with 33 saves for Clearwater, second best in the FSL, and was named to the league all-star team.
The 6-foot right-hander also saw action in seven games for Reading, Pa., in the Class AA Eastern League. A four-pitch hurler, Kawabata relies on the slider for his out pitch. He has averaged a shade under one strikeout per inning in his career and only walks a batter every 4.5 innings.
Other pitchers with local ties:
Mark Johnson (UH): "I would say overall, Mark's season was an inconsistent season, but we do see a lot of ability in Mark," said Florida Marlins director of field operations Rob Leary.
"He threw too many hittable pitches. We call it strike-zone command. He's a four-pitch pitcher and he needs all of them to be effective.
"He's a quality person and we believe he has the tools to pitch in the major leagues. It's a matter of refining them."
Johnson, a 6-3 right-hander in just his second pro season, surrendered an average of one hit per inning and walked half as many as he struck out for Portland, Maine, in the Class AA Eastern League. He finished with a 5-14 record and a 4.64 ERA.
"I went to Pittsburgh, had an MRI and finally exploratory arthroscopic surgery." Martin said. "I knew I needed to get fixed. They took ligaments out of my left and right wrist and weaved them in my elbow in the shape of a figure eight. It's Tommy John surgery.
He is in physical therapy under the guidance of former Rainbow third baseman Curt Watanabe at Orthopedic Rehabilitation Specialists. Martin hopes to start throwing again in January.
Moore, a 6-5 right-hander, struggled with a 5.23 earned run average as a reliever for Charlotte in the FSL. He gave up 84 hits in 74 innings, but saved six games.
"I think I've learned to throw more quality pitches, to attack hitters," said McNally, who plans to graduate from UH with a degree in economics next month.
Used as a setup man most of the season, he said "It's a lot different when you come in just for one inning. It's also a lot different than a short season. It's a marathon, not a spring. It really means getting into a routine."
He had a 2-2 record, 3.00 ERA and fanned 53 in 45 innings.
The hitters caught up later in the season. Masaoka surrendered 114 hits in 100 innings and made things more difficult by walking 63. His 5.32 ERA was the highest of his four-year career.
Used strictly in relief, he struggled to make quality pitches consistently. He gave up 43 hits and 17 walks in 3313 innings that contributed to a 5.67 ERA.
But according to Mel Didier, Arizona's director of player development, McCutcheon suffered a decline in confidence.
"We thought it best he go to Lethbridge, Alberta (Advanced Rookie Pioneer League)," Didier said. "We wanted him to get more innings and regain his confidence. It helped mentally and he was a big part of it."
McCutcheon, a 6-foot right-hander, finished with a combined 8-6 record.
The 6-3 right-hander had a solid start at Kinston, N.C., in the Class A Carolina League, but was sent down to Columbus, Ga. (Class A South Atlantic League) for his own benefit.
"We moved our No. 1 pick from a year ago up and had a tough decision with Kaipo," said Neal Huntington, assistant director of minor league operation for the Cleveland Indians.
"We thought it was in Kaipo's his best interest to pitch every fifth day. His velocity has come back and he showed some of the arm strength he had before the injury. Now we can work on pitch development and the other things that go into making him a major-league type pitcher."
Spenser was a combined 3-13, but pitched 122 innings with no injury problems.
"I was used as a closer and it was better for me because I concentrated a lot more," Yates said. "I thought I did real well. I worked on a lot of things and developed the mental part of the game."
He also got to pitch three innings for Oakland when the Athletics played an exhibition against their Class AA team in Huntsville, Ala. Yates gave up two hits, one unearned run, walked none and fanned five with A.J. Hinch behind the plate.
"It was a great experience, being alone and having to deal with their way of playing ball," he said. "I had an outstanding pitching coach in Jesus Guerrera, a former Cuban national team player. I learned a lot from him. My college Spanish helped. It was his work ethic. I think I needed that and I had no arm problems."
Rimini's manager Mike Roman has asked the right-hander back for next year. Apana is considering the offer and plans to check opportunities in this country and Japan.
"It was pretty weird for me," he said. "I took the independent thing to prove to myself I could still pitch in the big leagues. I was throwing in the upper 80s and low 90s so I'm looking forward to going to spring training. The only problem is, scouts don't watch the Western League."
