News
Restless Latos learning from dugout
Righty shut down a month ago, but watching season's end
By Corey Brock / MLB.com
10/01/09 4:21 PM EST
SAN DIEGO -- It's been nearly a month now since Padres rookie pitcher Mat Latos has thrown a pitch in a game, a fact the restless 21-year-old doesn't need to be reminded of any time soon."To me [not pitching] is like fasting, going a day without eating. No matter who you are ... it's hard to do," Latos said this week. "It's eating away at me. But at the same time, I understand."
Latos capped a wildly successful run through the Padres Minor League system with a 10-game stint with the Major League team before being shut down for the rest of the season after his last start on Sept. 5 against the Dodgers.
The Padres, guarding against the burden of a heavy workload for Latos, capped his work load at 123 innings between Class A Fort Wayne, Double-A San Antonio and then San Diego, where he was 4-5 with a 4.62 ERA.
Latos started the season with Fort Wayne, going 3-0 with a 0.36 ERA before jumping over Class A Lake Elsinore for Double-A San Antonio, where he was 5-1 with a 1.91 mark.
While the Padres shut Latos down, they didn't send him home, opting to keep him with the Major League team for the final month of the season so he can continue to work on mechanical things with pitching coach Darren Balsley and also get a glimpse of the kind of things the final month of the regular season can bring.
"It's getting an understanding of what it's like to pitch in September, against teams in the race that are trying to get to the playoffs," Latos said. "You don't have to be pitching in the games to get that.
"It's more of getting a feel for what the atmosphere is like. We went to Los Angeles, we went to Colorado, San Francisco. Even things like the weather conditions for the games ... it was 40 degrees and raining in Colorado last week and then the next day we are in Arizona and it is 100 degrees. This helps me see what am I going to be up against next year."
One of the things Latos has gained from his idle time is a better sense of what pitchers on the Padres staff are trying to do to opposing hitters and also what some of the hitters he'll be facing a lot next season are trying to accomplish in each at-bat.
"It's been watching guys, how they go about pitching to Manny Ramirez, Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki, guys like that and how they're swinging the bat in certain situations," Latos said. "I'm not watching as much video as I was when I was pitching, but I will go in and watch a few at-bats."
Latos hasn't stopped throwing altogether. He's throwing on the side under the watchful eyes of Balsley twice a week. They've talk mechanics, certain grips on pitches and the possibility of lengthening his stride.
"We've worked on a few things here and there. The main thing is slowing things down ... going at 50 or 60 percent instead of 100 percent in games, instead of just shutting me down completely," Latos said.
Manager Bud Black saw marked improvement in Latos from when he first saw him in Spring Training to where he was after 10 Major League starts.
"In Spring Training, we saw the typical mistakes a rookie would make the first time he pitched in the big leagues," Black said, "Overthrowing the fastball, trying way too hard to impress the coaches, throwing and not pitching.
"Now I see him pitching. He's using three pitches, not overthrowing the fastball, and his emotions are under control for the most part."
Now it's a matter of watching and learning until the Padres tell Latos it's time to get up on the mound again. That will be in Spring Training and for Latos, that time can't come soon enough.
"It's been for the best for me and next year is when I get to come back out and do it all over again," Latos said. "I'll be ready."
Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
