It was definitely a tale of two seasons in 2010 for Jonathan Broxton.
The first half included pitching dominance for the Dodgers' reliever, culminating in his second straight All-Star Game selection, where he recorded the final out of the NL victory. His appearances conjured up visions of Eric Gagne, circa 2003.
The second half, however, included disastrous pitching and loss of his closer role. In that glorious first half he was outstanding (3-0, 2.11 ERA, 1.07 WHIP); in the second half, awful (2-6, 7.13 ERA, 2.13 WHIP). He did record 22 saves and strike out 73 in 62.1 IP, but in that post-All Star Game collapse he walked 21 with just 18 Ks. And the speculation about the Georgia native's future with the Dodgers ramped up immediately.
The offseason was full of Broxton to the Mets for Jason Bay rumors or Broxton to any team before the Dodgers lose him as a free agent at the end of the season rumors. Nothing came to fruition, and the 6-4, 300-pound right-hander with the 100 MPH fastball is back in Dodger Blue and is once again their closer, much to the relief of his teammates.
"Nothing's changed as far as Brox is concerned," said staff ace Clayton Kershaw."Sure, he had a rough second half. But we never lost confidence in him and he's still our guy when the game is on the line.
"It's hard to find someone who can just blow away hitters like Brox can, and it would be wrong to ignore his whole career prior to the second half of last year. "Dodger pitching coach Rick Honeycutt concurs.
"If you're in this game long enough, which means you're pretty good, you're going to have bad times," said Honeycutt, who's beginning his sixth year mentoring the LA pitchers. "That's what Jonathan went through after the All-Star game last year. Bad times. This game can get anybody at any time. One day you're on top of the world, and a couple months later you feel like you're at the bottom.
"It all comes down to how (he) responds to adversity. Being the type of guy that he is, and the fact that he's had success in the past, if he's healthy I expect him to bounce back."
Which brings up the lingering question: Did Broxton fall apart after the ASG because he was hurt?
"Absolutely not," Broxton said, adamantly. "It just wasn't happening for me in the second half."
Does Honeycutt buy that?
"Well, without a doubt when things nosedive so fast, you immediately think injury. When you see people perform (over a long period of time) at a certain level, and then they don't, you start to think there's something going on.
"We wondered whether (some) toe issues were causing him to try to manufacture the power (behind his fastball) instead of it coming naturally when he's healthy. But the fact is he just pitched poorly in the second half. He was checked out and he was fine. So for him to turn it around comes down to one thing, Jonathan Broxton being the pitcher he can be."
And big Brox agrees.
"Last year started out great for me," Broxton said following a recent Dodgers' spring training game. "I got selected to the All Star team, they called on me to close it out, and that was a great experience. The second half just didn't go my way. I can't point at just one thing that went wrong. Just about everything did.
"This year I'm going to go out and give it everything I have. It's a new season and what happened in 2010 doesn't mean anything right now. I know I'm the same pitcher who saves games and who got picked for All Star teams. And I'm 100 percent healthy. So there's no reason I can't go out and be successful again.
"As a reliever you've got to have a short memory, and when I went out there after a bad game, I wasn't thinking about it. I was concentrating on that game I was in. Everybody's going to go through struggles, ups and downs. Mine just took a while. But I've just put it behind me and I'm ready to go this year."
And when you bring up his ability to throw 100 MPH and how he can dominate major league batters, the wide smile on his face tells you that he truly enjoys what he does, struggles and all.
"It's a God-given talent to throw (as hard) as I do, and it's definitely fun when things are going well," said the 26-year old. "It's nothing I (consciously) do to make it go 100, but I do have fun with it.
"It's fun to go out there and show everyone what you've got, and make a batter look (bad). But you also know they can do the same thing to you when you're struggling. I sure found that out last year. That's why I keep everything on an even keel."
Broxton is obviously a key to the Dodgers' hopes of returning to the postseason, as he heads a bullpen that also has Hong-Chi Kuo, Kenley Jansen and Matt Guerrier. Kuo took over as the closer when Broxton struggled and Jansen is the likely closer-in-waiting should Broxton leave via free agency. But speaking for the staff leader, Kershaw says when he hands the ball to Broxton, he's confident he'll get the "W" next to his name.
"Like I said, we have a ton of confidence in Brox. Nobody has lost faith. He has unbelievable stuff, and we expect big things from him this season."
