Major League Baseball

Fien looking forward to Astros spring training

Published Feb. 18, 2011 3:54 a.m. ET

foxsports

Casey Fien is hoping he quickly makes a good impression on the Houston Astros during spring training this year.

He sure doesn't want to have to go on another wild journey to find a place to pitch.

Last spring, the 27-year-old right-hander went from the Detroit Tigers to the Boston Red Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays and back to the Tigers again, all within three weeks.

''They called me the Traveling Man, which I felt like,'' Fien said Thursday before his first throwing session with the Astros. ''Going from team to team, I got to meet a bunch of new guys and coaches, but I just wanted to play, get on the mound and compete. By the time I got (back) to Detroit I hadn't even pitched in a game yet and there was like 10 days left.''

He spent most of the season with Toledo, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tigers, who released him after the season. He was 3-3 with a 2.60 ERA and eight saves for Toledo in 44 outings

With the help of a recommendation from Astros starter Bud Norris, his roommate at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, Fien signed with Houston in November.

''I told my agent whatever team comes after me, that's the team I want,'' Fien said. ''They obviously want me so I'm going to go to that team.''

Manager Brad Mills said it's impossible to assess Fien's chances at this point. Fien is a non-roster invitee on a team with 30 pitchers in camp.

''We've heard a lot of good things about the command of his pitches and how he throws the ball, so we're just going to wait and see,'' Mills said. ''Let him go through camp a few days and then start throwing in the games. Let's keep an open mind on everything.''

If he sticks around a few more days, Fien will be doing better than last year.

After appearing in nine big league games for the Tigers in 2009, he started the spring on Detroit's roster, but was designated for assignment Feb. 23. Six days later, Fien was claimed on waivers by Boston, but he never even worked out for the Red Sox. On March 4, the Blue Jays claimed him on waivers, only to release him March 17.

''They got my medical report, which they didn't have before they signed me, and they were just afraid that I was going to blow out. I felt fine,'' Fien said. ''I had an MRI done and some doctors said I was fine and others said I wasn't, so some teams took one doctor's opinion over the other.''

By the time the Traveling Man rejoined the Tigers, spring training was almost over.

''It was just frustrating, feeling like you weren't wanted,'' he said. ''You think that you're going to get a chance somewhere and then all of a sudden you don't even get a chance to pitch.

''I was in Boston for three days and then Toronto for two weeks and they didn't even let me get on the mound,'' Fien said. ''I was questioning them and they never answered me, but then I got my release and went back to Detroit.''

The Tigers called him up twice, each time for one game.

''They actually told me I was going down before I pitched,'' Fien recalled. ''They were like: 'Listen, just go out there and try to get some outs. You won't be here long.'''

He was never anywhere for long last year. Maybe this year will be different.

''They just told me to go out and compete for a job,'' Fien said. ''I'm just going to do the best I can and let the pieces fall where they may.''