Ex-closer Papelbon forgets fowl, rediscovers windup, curve
Most significant this spring is the attention he's paying to his windup. As a closer last year, he pitched exclusively from the stretch. Like returning home from a long vacation, now he'll have to familiarize himself again with his windup.
Pitching coach John Farrell spent quite a bit of time early in camp making sure that Papelbon wasn't coming "across himself" as he fired out of his windup and into his delivery. Translation: The right leg should land in a similar spot in front of him on the mound upon delivery of the ball, and that spot should not be to the left of his left foot.
"Because then it takes away the action of his slider, and the command of his fastball to both sides of the plate," Farrell says.
Another theme Farrell is preaching: making sure Papelbon induces contact from hitters early in the count, so he can be more efficient. It's fine to pump one 98 mph fastball after another when you need to obtain only three outs in the ninth inning. But when the road ahead stretches six or seven innings -- or more -- the fuel tank will run prematurely low if the counts consistently are deep.
That's where the curve that Papelbon says he last threw in a game in 2005 comes in. The list of unsuccessful starters is stocked with pitchers who could only command two pitches and didn't have a decent breaking ball. A third and fourth pitch is a must for a starter, and the most successful have refined breaking balls as well.
Like most everything else with Papelbon, his curve is above-average. Once he found his groove last year, he simply didn't need it. The fastball and splitter were enough -- more than enough on most nights. This year, ground balls need to become his friend as much as strikeouts.
"It feels good," he says of his curve so far this spring. "It's like riding a bike. It's always going to be there. I just have to get the feel and touch back."
As a starter, the Red Sox don't expect to see those sizzling 97, 98 mph fastballs regularly from Papelbon. More realistic, they think, is an average of somewhere between 92-95 with Papelbon retaining the ability to, as Farrell says, "go up and get" the upper 90s when he needs to.
The challenge to reach great heights, though -- both on the mound and on the radar gun -- remains the same.
"I live for that kind of challenge," Papelbon says. "I love for the fans to expect a lot from me, because I expect a lot from myself. That gets me going, when they expect a lot from you.
"I set my goals real high. I figure if I set my goals real high and don't reach them, then you're still going to accomplish a lot."
When the ducks weren't falling out of the sky over the winter, Papelbon was hard at work following a strict program designed by the Red Sox medical staff. Papelbon did all kinds of resistance work to strengthen his shoulder, pulling at more rubber tubing than a foreman in a Goodyear plant. He also worked extensively with weights and, so far, so good. He says he no longer even thinks about his shoulder.
"He can be as good as he wants to be," says an admiring Schilling. "He's going to be like Josh (Beckett). Both of these guys have a real good chance to put some hardware on their shelves. More than once."
As for the ducks, Papelbon says he grills them, gives some away to friends and stocks his freezer with the rest.
Says it takes him two minutes to clean a duck, "if that."
Says it takes another two minutes to dress the duck for the freezer.
Or, about the same time it takes him to undress a hitter.
