SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The motivation for Joe Blanton to change a lifetime worth of pitching habits was pretty simple.
“I was tired of getting my (butt) kicked every time I go out, so I thought I’d go for it,” Blanton said Saturday.
A lightning rod for criticism because of his disastrous season in 2013, Blanton came to Angels camp this spring needing to fight his way back to respectability.
And after he gave up seven runs in his second outing, he decided to finally take the measure that he’d resisted. He moved to the third-base side of the rubber, after throwing from the first-base side for as long as he could remember.
In his first game from that side of the rubber, Blanton gave up one hit in five scoreless innings, and suddenly became an intriguing pitcher again. Not only do the Angels have to decide what to do with him, but there will certainly be a handful of scouts from pitching-starved teams on hand for his next start Monday to see how he looks.
“It’s hard to say with one outing,” Blanton said, “but I like the results so far.”
So, the obvious question is, why didn’t Blanton make this switch last year, when pitching coach Mike Butcher first suggested it?
Blanton, who had a 4.37 ERA over 237 games in nine seasons before coming to the Angels, said he was reluctant to make the change.
“To be 100 percent honest, you come to a new organization and have a new pitching coach and the first sign of struggles and it’s ‘Let’s completely change something,’” Blanton said. “I was like ‘Hang on. I’ve struggled before and I’ve always come out of it.’”
Aside from a five-week span in May and early June, Blanton never did come out of it. He spent the last month of the season working on tweaking his delivery, mostly on flat ground. When he got on the mound this spring, especially when the Colorado Rockies were tattooing him for four homers, he realized he needed something else.
So he finally relented to Butcher’s suggestion and moved about 18 inches. Blanton said the new position helped him create a different angle for the hitters.
“I basically just had one bullpen (session) with it, then straight to the game and it seemed fine,” he said. “It wasn’t that mentally hard. It would have been mentally hard if I wasn’t going to sell out to do it, if I was hesitant. But I said ‘Let’s go for it and see what happens.’”
DE LA ROSA OK
Dane De La Rosa was cleared to resume throwing Sunday after missing nine days with a strained forearm. Manager Mike Scioscia said it’s possible De La Rosa could be ready for the March 31 opener.
Although the prognosis was never that dire for De La Rosa, 31, he admitted that he was “scared” until a doctor confirmed Saturday he can throw again.
“I can’t afford to lose time,” De La Rosa said. “I’m too old and not enough time in the big leagues.”
NOTES
Josh Hamilton ran the bases during morning workouts for the first time since suffering a strained calf more than two weeks ago. “He felt great,” Scioscia said. If Hamilton feels good Sunday, he could play his first game Monday. …
C.J. Wilson will be making his third start against the Seattle Mariners this spring. Wilson, who will also face the Mariners in his first regular-season start, presumably April 1, said he did not feel it was necessary to pitch in a minor league game to avoid seeing Seattle again. “There’s not a lot of mystery,” Wilson said. “I’ve faced them a lot.” Wilson has a 2.81 ERA in 17 starts against Seattle since he became a starter in 2010.
Contact the writer: jlfletcher@ocregister.com
