CLEVELAND -- The Indians have provided encouraging sign after encouraging sign in winning 10 of their last 11 games, including Thursday’s 9-2 drubbing of Oakland to complete a four-game sweep.
But the most encouraging of the signs could be in the form of left-handed starting pitcher Scott Kazmir, who struck out 10 and gave up one run in winning his second game in a row.
Kazmir has gone from Sugar Land to the majors. A year ago he pitched for the Sugar Land Skeeters, where he tried to find and refine his delivery. He then went to Puerto Rico to do the same in winter ball. He joined the Indians as a non-roster invitee, and the first time he threw he caught the eye of manager Terry Francona.
“The first day we were saying he can pitch with this and win at the major league level,” Francona said. “We were just hoping he could hold it.”
So far … yes it’s early … the results are more than encouraging.
The A’s lead the league in runs scored. Kazmir allowed them one in six innings.
He used his fastball, slider and occasional changeup to keep a good hitting team off balance. Then when he gave up a solo home run in the sixth, he got mad, rared back and started throwing mid-90s. His last two pitches were 95 and 96 miles per hour.
Francona said that was the Kazmir he remember who pitched so well in Tampa, when David Ortiz would not argue when given a day off if Kazmir was pitching.
“All in all,” Kazmir said, “everything’s going better and better.”
Last season, Kazmir was in Sugar Land, Texas, pitching 20 minutes from home and working on his delivery as he tried to see if he could get back to the majors. In 14 starts, he pitched 64 innings and walked 33. He went to Winter Ball and kept working, trying to make his delivery more compact. It started to work, and Francona reached out to him.
He joined the Indians on a minor league contract, and it seemed like a reach. But he won a roster spot and won the fifth starting spot before getting hurt before the season, delaying his Indians debut. He now has won twice in six days.
Kazmir admitted he lost almost everything back in 2010. A minor leg injury had him compensating.
“I stopped using my legs,” he said. “I had to alter my mechanics just to compete and go out there. Then I felt better and didn’t know how to use my legs.”
It got as bad as his 9-15, 5.94 ERA in Anaheim shows.
“I couldn’t throw a strike,” he said. “Everything was leaking. Just something you see that nothing is under control, nothing is on time.”
He rebuilt his delivery “from square one,” he said.
“I had to do the basics, the smallest things, just to feel athletic again on the mound,” he said.
Because he fixed himself, he said he gained a better understanding of himself, and how to pitch.
“It’s made me a way better pitcher,” he said.
Francona said Kazmir now “stays in his delivery” a lot better.
“He had some time to figure himself out,” Francona said. “I remember asking him the same question, ‘Who helped you.’ He said, ‘I grew up.’
“I think growing up off the field (led) to it on the field. Tee game doesn’t speed up on him. I think he enjoys competing. I don’t mean to get overly sentimental, but I think he’s at peace where he’s at.”
With Kazmir contributing, the Indians starting pitching has come around. In the last 11 games, the starters have gone 9-1 with a 2.55 ERA. The only loss was 4-2, to the Twins.
A unit that was supposed to be the team’s Achilles heel is providing good outing after good outing.
“Our starting pitching has given us a chance to win,” Francona siad.
Meanwhile, the Indians continue to lead the league in home runs -- they hit four more on Thursday -- and do the other things needed to win. A slow start has given way to winning 12 of the last 16 games, and going 8-1 on the homestand.
“We were clicking,” Kazmir said. “We were on point.”
Kazmir among them. He even said he feels like he’s getting back to the form he had in his best years in Tampa.
“I’m getting there,” Kazmir said. “I wouldn’t say I’m there yet. But definitely scratching the surface. It’s getting close.”
There’s no need to even say what it would mean to the Indians were he to actually “get there.”
