Buck Relishing Closer Role
Miguel Garza, Laredo Midday Times
Thursday, June 21, 2012
It was the top of the 9th inning last night at Elysian Fields in downtown Laredo. The Calzones faithful – the 8,278 who had bothered to show up – were in a frenzy. Despite their small numbers, it was complete pandemonium for the win-starved faithful. David Goode, the unlikeliest of heroes, had just hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 8th to bring the Calzones back from a 6-3 deficit. An inning earlier, his two run home run had cut the Florida lead to 4-3.
The bullpen gates swung open. The familiar opening riffs of Judas Priests “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” blared from the stadium speakers. The Calzones’ new closer, former starter Mike Buck, strolled in from the right field pen. In a now-familiar sight, Buck held three fingers skyward. The crowd roared as he made his way towards the mound.
The southpaw took his warmups and stepped off the mound. He rubbed up the baseball and climbed back on top of the hill. He again held up three fingers, this time looking in at rookie catcher Glen Wallace. Wallace held up three fingers, pulled on his mask and crouched behind the plate. Featherheads’ third baseman Glen Harris steped into the box. Buck went into his windup and fired. Harris hit the first pitch on one hop straight to the Calzones sure-handed third baseman Keith Eby, who threw across the diamond for the easy out.
Featherheads catcher Rafael Gonzáles was next. He stepped into the batter’s box. Buck held up two fingers as he stared in at Wallace. Wallace held up two fingers in reply. Buck went to work on Gonzáles. He got two quick swinging strikes on the Featherheads’ batter, but Gonzáles battled back to work the count full. Buck finally finished off Gonzáles with a hard inside fastball that the veteran hitter just couldn’t get around on for the swinging strikeout. Two down.
Featherheads’ second baseman Taisuke Endo was the Featherheads last hope. He strode to the plate. Buck held up one finger. The crowd was on its feet. Wallace again replied to his pitcher by holding up just one finger. Four pitches later, Endo had struck out swinging and the Calzones had put an improbable win on the board.
When Mike Buck was acquired in a trade from New Orleans earlier this season, it was assumed that he would help out a struggling rotation. But in a surprising move, he was immediately handed the closing role. Even more surprisingly, he has, after struggling as a starter for much of the last season and a half, thrived in his new role. We asked pitching coach Carlos Garza about the move to the bullpen and Buck’s success since coming back to the Calzones.
“Well, we thought most of Buck’s problems as a starter were in his head. He spent too much time on the mound trying to think about things, and thinking is not his strong suit,” Garza told me. “We loved his arm,” Garza continued, “and we needed some help in the bullpen, so we thought if we could simplify things for him, he might have success. So far, it has worked out well for him and for us.”
I probed a little further with Garza, asking what exactly the Calzones did to alter Buck’s approach. “It was simple really,” said Garza. “We just told him to think about ‘three’ and nothing else. Get three outs. That’s all he has to do. As long as he focuses on ‘three’ and keeps all other thoughts out of his mind, he’s fine. He gets in trouble when he starts thinking. We don’t want him thinking. Throw strikes, get three outs. That’s all.”
So far, the Calzones experiment with Buck is going incredibly well. Since coming back to the Calzones in the April 23rd trade with New Orleans, Buck has converted 11 of 12 save opportunities. In 20 appearances, he has pitched 17.1 innings, allowing just 10 hits, 2 walks, 4 earned runs and striking out 22. His ERA is 2.08 as a closer with San Antonio. His WHIP is 0.69. Opponents have batted just .167 against him. His 11 saves are tied for 7th in the IL despite not assuming the role until almost a month into the season.
I had a chance to ask Buck about his new-found success. “It’s been fun,” he told me. ” I wish we were winning more, but we have good things happening here. A lot of young kids, a lot of energy coming into play. To be part of that, to give the fans something to cheer about… that’s fun. I’m loving it. You can see where we are going here, and the fans, getting them all excited at the end of games… what could be better? Getting the energy going, it’s something that will feed upon itself as these kids have more success. I’m just glad to be a part of that, to be contributing, you know?”
Yes, we know, Mike.
We know three.