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A job well done by Contreras
By John Delcos, Gannett
News Service. Daily
Record, July 21, 2004.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Jose Contreras stood
at the entrance of the Yankee clubhouse,
greeting each teammate with a smile and
firm handshake.
His work was completed an hour before and
he had iced his arm and dressed. All that
was left for him was to wait for Tom Gordon
and Mariano Rivera to finish out the formula
for another victory, 4-2 yesterday afternoon
over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
For the Yankee formula to work, the starter
must go at least six innings - preferably
seven - and for the first time there is
a sense the $32-million investment in Contreras
is paying out.
Contreras, now 8-3 with a gradually respectful
4.84 ERA, gave up two runs on four hits
in seven innings; the bullpen threw three
scoreless innings, with Rivera nailing down
his 34th save; and the pitching was backed
by Gary Sheffield, who drove in three runs
with a groundout and two-run homer.
"It's confidence," manager Joe
Torre said of what has been the difference
in Contreras since his return from the minor
leagues in late May. "He has gotten
the message, evidently."
Contreras has won seven of eight decisions
since his return, and has worked at least
six innings in nine of 11 starts.
He's worked into the seventh five times.
There are several reasons for Contreras'
gradual development into the pitcher the
Yankees always hoped, beginning with a sense
of personal relief after his family's defection
from Cuba, with his first start in front
of them an 8-1 decision over the Mets, June
27.
However, that was his seventh start since
his minor league return, and he had won
three, so he had already started to evolve.
Yankees organizational pitching instructor
Billy Connors says part of the explanation
is Contreras' delivery. Before, he threw
too much straight overhand and cut off the
release early.
"He's better coming more from the
side," Connors said. "His ball
moves more."
Contreras still has his down moments, such
as a 10-9 loss July 3 to the Mets at Shea
Stadium.
"The low point is when he bottomed
out in the Mets game," Torre said.
"We kept scoring and he kept giving
it back."
Torre and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre
told Contreras, scolded him, lectured to
him, demanded of him, to trust his stuff
and challenge hitters.
They told Contreras there would be down
times, but if he stayed with it, there would
be an upside.
Contreras has been lights out since,beating
Tampa Bay twice and Detroit, giving up a
combined four runs on 11 hits in 21 2/3
innings.
By far, it has been his best three-game
stretch with the Yankees, and his next start
is Sunday at Boston.
"He's ready for it," Torre said.
"If he's not ready for it now, he never
will be."
What's happening with Contreras, said Torre,
is he's feeding off his success, and the
payoff is he's finding a way to make the
pitch to minimize damage in an inning.
The Yankees gave him a 1-0 lead in the
first on Sheffield's run-scoring grounder,
but Contreras held the Devil Rays to single
runs in the third and fourth innings - where
in the past he'd be prone to the big inning
- which put him in position to pick up the
victory after Sheffield's two-run homer
in the sixth.
Contreras said he's more focused, and while
he admits a sense of relief and comfort
to have his family back, he said he never
took that to the mound with him.
It's also great to have Orlando Hernandez
around, but there's nothing he can do on
the mound.
So, why was Contreras at the clubhouse
door with a smile yesterday, shaking hands
and receiving congratulations rather than
a pat on the back and words of encouragement?
"What I wasn't doing well was keeping
the ball down," Contreras said. "I
was up, and when you're up you pay for it.
I'm focused on being aggressive. I'm pitching
my game."
What he's doing, is pitching, and whatever
explanation, privately the Yankees are saying
to themselves, "it's about time."
John Delcos can be reached at (973) 428-6671.
Copyright
2004 Daily Record.
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