Once he thought of it, James McCann was really glad Grayson Rodriguez struggled close to the tip of his fourth begin this spring.
McCann, the 32-year-old catcher the Orioles introduced in to again up Adley Rutschman, is aware of what it takes for a pitcher of Rodriguez’s expertise to make it within the large leagues. The skilled backstop has caught 5 pitchers who gained the Cy Young Award of their careers, and regardless of how proficient any pitcher is, McCann stated coping with “adversity” is a assure.
“I like the fact that he had to face that adversity,” McCann stated just a few days after Rodriguez couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning towards the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. “That’s something he’ll be able to draw on early in his career, and it’ll make him better later in his career because he had to face that adversity.”
That’s certainly one of a number of messages McCann imparted on Rodriguez once they met the next morning within the Orioles’ clubhouse to go over the outing.
It’s regular for a catcher to sit down down with a pitcher after his begin, however that was McCann’s first time catching the 6-foot-5 right-hander in a sport. The two gamers — one an up-and-coming prospect, the opposite a grizzled veteran — mentioned the outing for about 10 minutes, breaking down each the great and the unhealthy.
“It’s a Monday morning quarterback, of sorts, but it’s not second-guessing things, it’s more just learning from what you should take away,” McCann stated.
Rodriguez, the Orioles’ high pitching prospect, fell into quicksand within the fourth inning final weekend and couldn’t climb his method out — committing an error, throwing a wild pitch, strolling two and permitting a double off the wall within the body. He had one other merry-go-round inning in his remaining spring begin Thursday towards the Detroit Tigers, giving up 4 hits, successful by pitch and 5 runs — together with a three-run homer — within the third. Rodriguez has allowed three or extra runs in an inning in every of his previous three spring begins.
However, regardless of these blow-up innings, the 23-year-old has displayed the stuff — the onerous fastball, drop-off-the-table changeup and sharp breaking ball — that’s garnering him reward as among the finest pitching prospects within the sport, ranked top-10 on each main record.
After the primary up-and-down outing, supervisor Brandon Hyde referred to as it a “good learning experience.” Rodriguez then repeated the identical phrase instantly following the second.
“It’s all learning experience, and for it to happen in spring training is better than during the regular season,” stated Rodriguez, who’s competing for a spot within the Orioles’ beginning rotation.
To guarantee these classes caught with Rodriguez in a productive method, McCann was there the next morning.
“We just kind of went over some of the things we saw, some things we can work on,” Rodriguez stated earlier this week. “I think we’re very fortunate to have him with us this year. I can learn a lot from a guy like that.”
“First and foremost, I wanted to hear what he had to say about his outing,” McCann stated. “There was frustration with how it finished for him. When I’ve talked to a pitcher postgame or early the next day, it’s usually just to have a follow up. Whether it’s, ‘Hey this is what I saw, this is what I think we can do better.’ And also giving compliments of where it did go really well.”
The Orioles traded for McCann, an All-Star in 2019 who has struggled lately with the New York Mets, this offseason and are solely paying him $5 million for his subsequent two seasons because the Mets swallowed most of his costly contract. McCann hit .220 with a .620 OPS in his two seasons with the Mets.
With Rutschman established as one of many sport’s finest catchers — each on the plate and behind it — the Orioles are making certain with McCann that their backup backstop also can assist the membership behind the scenes. The nine-year veteran has caught greater than 6,000 innings in his large league profession, together with some from Cy Young winners Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, David Price and Dallas Keuchel.
“James has been extremely open with all of our pitchers,” Hyde stated. “He’s got great experiences in the past. He’s very open. He wants to see us be good and wants to see our pitching staff improve. He’s been wonderful in meetings and one on ones. It’s nice to have a veteran like him.”
One takeaway McCann wished to imbue in Rodriguez was to at all times take away the positives from a begin — even when the negatives are extra prevalent. In final weekend’s look, Rodriguez opened the sport with two scoreless innings, and McCann stated his changeup was “outstanding,” calling his total arsenal “elite” and massive league-ready.
“I explained to him when you’re trying to make a team and you’re trying to make a name for yourself, it’s harder to do that because the negatives oftentimes far outweigh the positives,” McCann stated. “I used to be taking that second the opposite day simply to remind him of all of the positives of his outing.
“There’s so much failure in this game that you have to be able to find the way to focus on the positives.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com