News
Fields getting confidence back
Mariners prospect set to pitch in AFL championship game
By Jim Street / MLB.com
11/20/09 4:04 PM EST
PEORIA, Ariz. -- A fastball that made him so good in the first place is back, and so is the confidence that went away from right-hander Josh Fields, one of the Mariners' top prospects."I'm not exactly where I want to be, but I'm a whole lot closer than where I was," he said. "I came here with close to zero confidence because of the season I had, and felt I had something to prove."
Mission accomplished.
Fields prepared for Saturday's Arizona Fall League championship game against the Phoenix Desert Dogs with a scoreless inning of relief on Thursday, lowering his ERA to 1.64 and raising his confidence to the highest level it has been since helping the University of Georgia reach the finals of the College World Series in 2008.
"I needed this," Fields said of his success during the six-week AFL season. "I had to prove that I could compete against these guys. God blessed me and allowed me to do that."
Fields held opposing batters to a .154 average, the best among AFL relievers, and helped the Javelinas reach the championship game.
Fields is scheduled to work one or two innings in the championship game, probably after starter Anthony Varvaro (also of the Mariners) is finished. The game will be shown live on MLB.com and the MLB Network.
"He has done an outstanding job here," Javelinas manager Kevin Bradshaw said. "You watch the hitters' swings against him and they are not very good at all.
"He is a max effort kind of guy, but has a loose, wiry arm. He is going to be something down the line when he learns to control his breaking ball a little better. I don't think too many hitters will feel comfortable against him."
The lack of command on his breaking pitch could be connected to the prolonged holdout he went through after being selected in the first round of the First-Year Player Draft. Fields did not sign until a few days before Spring Training this year -- nearly eight months after throwing his last competitive pitch.
"I think [the holdout] affected me more than I figured it would," he said. "I started having a little bit of soreness in Spring Training, and I think subconsciously, I started changing a little bit of stuff to compensate for it, and I didn't even realize it. That kind of spiraled me downward for the rest of the year."
He spent the entire 2009 season with Double-A East Tennessee, posting a 2-2 record with a 6.48 ERA with four saves in 31 relief appearances. Fields called it a lousy season that was compounded by periodical shoulder problems.
"I lost a lot of confidence during the season," he said. "I had some good outings, but it wasn't consistent. I wasn't stringing them together, especially toward the end of year. I gave up a lot of hits and runs."
He allowed 33 hits and 33 runs (24 earned) in 33 1/3 innings, struck out 36 and walked 22.
It was not what he had in mind for his first professional season.
"It was tough trying to go through this year not really knowing what was going wrong and where to go to fix things," he said. "That took a toll on my mental game. It was tough. I think those eight months would have been important for me to throw some innings somewhere."
Unlike most players selected in the Draft, Fields had no college eligibility remaining, so he did not face an Aug. 15 signing deadline. The impasse lasted forever, it seemed.
"I would not recommend that to anyone," he said, "but I think God allowed that to happen for a reason. I'm not sure what that reason was, but now I have a lot better understanding of my body and mechanics than I did before.
"When things start to take a turn for worse next time, hopefully I will be more prepared mentally and physically to make the adjustments I need to make to get back on track."
He's back on track now, thanks to the AFL experience and a visit to his alma mater at the end of West Tennessee's season.
He was playing catch on his first day back when Mike Dillon, the Bulldogs' trainer who had watched Fields perform so well during his four-year college career, noticed something.
"He came up to me and said, 'What are you doing?'" Fields recalled. "I told him I didn't know, and I needed some help."
Dillon knew Fields' delivery extremely well and noticed that the pitcher's right arm was in a different position, lower than what he remembered.
"I think more than anything, it was my arm slot," Fields said. "I had been getting 'run' on my fastball, and I never did that before. My fastball is straight as an arrow and sometimes it has some cut to it. When I start getting running and sink on my fastball, that's an indication that something is not right."
Fields raised his right arm a little and relocated the proper slot.
"We worked for a month, and he really helped steer me back on the right track," he said. "When I'm throwing normal, my fastball kind of explodes to the plate. The explosion at the end is what makes me as a pitcher."
After pitching an inning or two on Saturday, Fields will return to his Georgia home, take some time off and begin preparing for Spring Training.
"I think I made some great strides here to get back to where I was before," he said. "I hope this starts me off on the right foot for next year."
Could he compete for a job in the Mariners' bullpen?
"I would like to say, 'Yes', but I don't know what they think. Anything is possible and I might have a chance, but I'm not sure how slim it is. Either way, it's important for me to come into camp with that mindset regardless."
Jim Street is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
