Westbrook ready to cash in
He would be solid free agent in fall, but Tribe hopes to sign him now
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter
WINTER HAVEN, FLA. - C.C. Sabathia will be the Indians' Opening Day starter, and Jake Westbrook will follow him.
There is more to setting up a rotation than ranking each pitcher by his place in the pecking order. Whether a starter is right-handed or left-handed, a hard thrower or soft thrower are some of the factors.
After Westbrook takes his turn, Cliff Lee will pitch Game 3 of the season, with Jeremy Sowers starting the fourth game and Paul Byrd the fifth, though the order is yet to be carved in stone.
Tribe manager Eric Wedge didn't tell Westbrook why he was selected as No. 2 starter. But if he chose to simplify the task, he could easily justify his decision by pointing to Westbrook's numbers and announcing, ``This is my second best starter, after C.C.''
Westbrook is among a small group of pitchers who, during the past three seasons, have won at least 44 games and worked more than 600 innings (637 2/3 to be precise).
Consistency has become Westbrook's trademark. He has made all of his scheduled starts (99) since 2004.
These statistics make Westbrook an agent's dream client and a prime candidate to break the bank if he enters the free-agent market in the fall. General Manager Mark Shapiro would prefer to sign Westbrook before he can make himself available to other teams and has said he will try to negotiate a new deal this spring.
Westbrook hasn't heard that talks between his agent and the Tribe front office have begun.
``I'd like to get something done this spring, if possible,'' he said. ``But I understand that it's business.
``I'm very comfortable here. This is the longest I've been with any one team. It's nice to be able to fit in and have that comfortable feeling.''
That said, Westbrook is acutely aware that deals for free-agent pitchers went through the roof during the winter.
``The numbers they threw out there were surprising and exciting to hear about,'' he said. ``It feels good to be in the situation I'm in.''
One question is whether Westbrook's performance will be affected if a deal does not get done during training camp.
``Can it affect a player? Yeah,'' Wedge said. ``Will it affect Jake? No, he's a character guy. One reason we want to lock him up is that you can always count on him.''
Of more immediate importance is the upcoming season and the state of Westbrook's sinking fastball. More than most pitchers, he relies on a single weapon to retire batters.
Lots of pitchers use a sinker, but few sinkers have the movement of Westbrook's. And it all comes so naturally.
Long before he became a professional, Westbrook grabbed a baseball with his index and third finger parallel to two seams. When he delivered the pitch, the ball would dip down and in to right-handed batters as it reached the plate.
``It just felt comfortable to hold the ball that way,'' Westbrook said. ``When I'm throwing downhill off a mound, whether it's because of my coordination or the snap of my wrist, it's hard for me to throw anything straight, even a four-seamer.''
All pitchers should be so lucky. On the other hand, a sinkerball pitcher isn't likely to strike out many batters, nor will many pitches end up being lazy flies to the center fielder.
Westbrook ``pitches to contact,'' as scouts like to say. He wants batters to hit the ball -- rather, mishit it into the dirt. Problem is that pitchers never know if a ground ball is going to land in the glove of a defender or roll through the infield for a hit.
It's kind of a crapshoot that favors the pitcher most of the time, but not always. There will be games when Westbrook gives up 10 hits in seven innings and still is effective.
``One way I can tell if I'm pitching well is if I'm getting routine ground balls rather than hard shots that the infielders don't have time to get in front of,'' he said.
Even when he's pitching well, Westbrook can become a victim of the randomly hit bouncer.
``You can make a good pitch and they'll hit a two- or three-hopper that happens to go through,'' he said. ``And then the next guy might do the same thing.
``It does get frustrating. But you learn real fast that if you let it get to you, you're going to be gone after two or three innings.''
As an adept fielder, Westbrook helps himself.
He led the majors in fielding chances the past two seasons. In 2006, Westbrook had 74 total chances; in 2005, he had 82.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at
socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
