NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Reading Fightin Phils

Floyd learning to fly

August 26, 2005 - Eastern League (EL1)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


You remember Gavin Floyd. Phillies phenom. The overall No. 4 pick in the 2001 draft. A guy who was destined to win 15-20 games in the big leagues for as long as he felt like it.

Whatever happened to him? No, he is not doing a summer stock version as the lead in "Lemony Snicket's - A Series of Unfortunate Events."

Actually, he is toiling - somewhat in anonymity - in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, trying to recapture the magic that had him ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Phillies organization. As the guy who dazzled the Mets last September in his major league debut. As . . . well, The Man.

Let's review: Because of an injury to Vicente Padilla, Floyd was in the rotation in Philadelphia in April, where he made two starts before going to the bullpen. It was a disaster. In 14 innings he surrendered a whopping 22 runs. He struck out two and walked - get this - 12. Four of the seventeen hits he allowed were home runs.

These frightful numbers amounted to the advance scouts of a summer-long invasion of uncertainty and despair. Gavin Floyd had only known rainbows; now there were storm clouds everywhere.

Truth be told, Floyd was lost when he was sent back to Triple-A. In his first two outings he was mugged - 8.1 innings, 12 runs, 15 hits. Critics' knives began flashing. It was as though somebody had painted over the original. Who was this pretender in Gavin Floyd's uniform?

There are those who felt all along that the precocious right-hander was 10 or 12 Triple-A starts away from being a polished big league pitcher. Red Barons pitching coach Rod Nichols, who had Gavin last year in Reading, might have been one of them.

Phillies GM Ed Wade admits it was a mistake putting the kid in the bullpen in Philly, where his ego and his ERA collided.

"I believe it did (affect him)," said Nichols, never one to sugar-coat anything involving his guys. "He was in uncharted territory when he was out there. At the time he went to the bullpen he still wasn't comfortable in the big leagues anyway. He wasn't comfortable, and Gavin has to be comfortable in his situation, in his environment."

As the season moved into May, Floyd continued to struggle. The walks were piling up. So were the hit batsmen. Command to him was only a word in the dictionary.

Guys forget their keys, their glasses, their umbrellas . . . Floyd forgot how to pitch. It was a master surgeon cutting himself shaving, a CPA overdrawing on his checking account, an astronaut freezing up on a ferris wheel.

Floyd might have hit rock bottom on June 10 at home against Indianapolis. He had laced together two quality starts, but this time he never got out of the second inning: There were seven runs, six walks, two hit batters, two wild pitches. It was horrible.

His next outing wasn't much better. Then, from late June to early July, Floyd put together a string of three terrific outings, though he would not get a decision in any of them.

The euphoria was brief. He still couldn't find the plate with a map or a compass, and his troubles returned.

It was right around that time that the Phillies called on pitching specialist Johnny Podres, the former Brooklyn Dodgers lefty and Jim Fregosi's pitching coach in Philadelphia, to offer his perspective on their struggling 22-year-old.

"Pods went at things in a great way, keeping it simple," Nichols said recently before a game at Lackawanna County Stadium. "He can make things so simple that it's easy. All he did was show Gavin how to throw a fastball, and that's all he did. He said some good words and told some good stories. It was fun to watch. At the end of two bullpen sessions, Gavin felt pretty good about himself."

"He was unbelievable," Floyd said. "I learned a lot. I had never thrown bullpens like that in my life, knowing what I'm doing and being able to repeat it two days in a row. It was quite an experience. I wrote everything he told me in a book, and I remember everything he told me in my head. It was awesome, just the tips he gave me. It was a confidence thing more than anything."

What comes first for struggling ballplayers, the chicken (the physical breakdown) or the egg (the mental breakdown)?

"Some of it was mechanics and a lot of it was mental," Nichols offered. "This was probably the first time he got knocked around, and he got knocked around pretty good. It was tough for him to recover, and he's till recovering as we speak.

"He's learning to trust his mechanics. He's learned more about his mechanics this year than he ever has. He's also learning the mental side of the game. It's all tying in. It's been hard work, but it's been fun to watch."

"I've learned so much this whole year," Floyd said. "It's just amazing how many things I went through, mainly mentally. Rod has been awesome. Right now I'm completely comfortable. The curveball is back and I'm feeling better than I did even two weeks ago.

"What I thought was physical, mechanical, was false. So I kept playing with it, getting in holes, and restarting things, trying to figure things out mechanically instead of going out there and using my natural ability. So I kept fighting myself, thinking something was wrong mechanically when nothing was wrong mechanically. The whole thing is to trust your ability, and I haven't done that all year. I was trying to be too fine, and that was another problem all year. I was lost."

It would be nice to report that Floyd is his old dominant self - the pitcher who led the Eastern League last year with a 2.57 ERA. But that wouldn't be true.

Lately, over his last six starts he has been framing together two outstanding outings, then backsliding for one. Overall he was 6-8 with a 5.77 ERA. In 128 innings he has allowed 141 hits with 90 strikeouts, 58 walks, eight wild pitches and he has hit 20 batters.

"He's closer (to being the old Gavin) that he was four months ago," Nichols said. "I still think he has a ways to go. But from what I've seen four months ago, it's just been leaps and bounds. I've watched an A-ball pitcher progress to where he's close to a big league pitcher right now.

"He has three more starts left here and it's coming together. But I told him before, I'd like to see consistency before I see him pitch in the big leagues (this year)."

Gavin Floyd says he has learned a lot about pitching this year. He also says he has learned a lot about himself as a person, too. One surely is married to the other.

He has learned that today is the student of yesterday, that success cannot be purchased cheaply. He also has learned that even the most talented individual can't draw a check on the Bank of Expectations.

And so the lessons continue.

"I don't think I would take anything back from this season, because I learned so much," he said. "I've definitely been able to take positives out of this season. It's not only baseball. I've been able to make some other strides spiritually through my friendships down here. I've had a great time.

"I'd sure love to be up there (in the big leagues) and have everything perfect, but I've learned so much about myself that it's almost weird. I'm looking to the future and hoping it comes sooner than later."

There's a saying: "If someone the great once were, then someone the great shall always be."

Gavin Floyd is close to being that someone.

Check out the Reading Fightin Phils Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Eastern League message board...

Eastern League Stories from August 26, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Reading Fightin Phils Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central