August 16, 2007 - Hamilton Native in Majors to Stay? / By: George O'Gorman / The Trentonian
Hamilton native in Majors to stay?
By GEORGE O’GORMAN / The Trentonian
NEW YORK — Jim Hoey’s third trip to the major leagues has proven to be far different than his first two stops in the Baltimore Orioles’ bullpen.
The numbers prove it.
When the former Hamilton High and Rider University star set the Yankees down on just 10 pitches in the eighth inning yesterday, it extended his shutout streak to five scoreless innings in the four relief appearances he’s made for the Orioles since being promoted from Triple-A Norfolk last Thursday.
“It’s all about feeling comfortable,” Hoey said. “The first time I was up here I was reluctant and not going after the hitters as much. Now I’m just going to do what I did in Triple-A.”
What Hoey did in Norfolk after being sent back to Triple-A following the three days he spent with Baltimore in June transformed him into a reliever Orioles pitching guru Leo Mazzone expects will stay in the Major Leagues a long time.
“Now he’s trusting his natural ability to get people out,” said Mazzone, who feels Hoey’s “command of his fastball and slider” has made the 6-foot-6, 25-year-old right-hander far more effective than he was in 12 appearances with Baltimore at the end of last season and the two-thirds of an inning he pitched against Arizona on June 16 when he got tagged for three quick runs.
“He’s got a real good future ahead of him in the big leagues,”said Mazzone. “His composure is real good, and his stuff is real good. You see him getting better every game.
“He’s going to be a good bullpen guy for long time.”
Just the fifth player from Mercer County in the last 50 years to pitch in the Majors, and the first reliever, Hoey had an auspicious debut Friday when he got the win in relief over Boston at Camden Yards, throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings and getting his first Major League win a day after being called up when the O’s won in the ninth.
Sunday he threw 1 2/3 perfect innings against the Red Sox, and had another 1-2-3 inning Monday at Yankee Stadium that included a strikeout of Alex Rodriguez.
Yesterday, with the Orioles on the verge of dealing New York its first back-to-back shutout losses of the year after Erik Bedard took a 3-0 lead into the eighth, Hoey came on to extend the shutout.
His third pitch to Melky Cabrera resulted in a 3-4-3 groundout, then after Robinson Cano got an opposite-field single on the fourth pitch he saw from Hoey, the Baltimore reliever got Derek Jeter to hit into a 6-4-3 double play. It was the second time in three games Hoey ended an inning with a groundout double play.
Apparently the Orioles didn’t have enough faith in Hoey to bring him back out for the ninth, and they paid for it when Danys Baez gave up two quick singles. Two outs later, a third reliever, Jamie Walker, gave up a two-out, three-run homer to ex-Thunder slugger Shelley Duncan.
The Orioles ended up winning it, 6-3, in the 10th after Mariano Rivera imploded for the second straight game and yielded a game-winning two-run homer to Aubrey Huff.
“I guess I’m pretty much a one-inning guy right now,” admitted Hoey. “That’s not what they’ve told me, but that’s pretty much my role now. They haven’t told me my role, so whenever they feel like it they’ll put me in.”
“Whenever that is, I’ll be ready. I’ll just continue to do what I did in Triple-A as long as it continues to work I’ll keep it up,” Hoey added.
Hoey, who ironically made his first relief appearance of the year in Trenton when he got the save as Bowie beat the Thunder, 1-0, in the season opener, says he benefited from the offseason surgery he had on his shoulder to become a more effective reliever at Bowie and Norfolk.
Earlier this season, he didn’t allow a run and earned 14 saves in 20 games for Bowie when he struck out 28 in 18 2/3 innings during which Eastern League hitters batted just .200 against him.
The numbers were even better at Norfolk, where he was 2-0 with two saves and a 1.33 ERA in 20 games. When he was promoted back to the Orioles last Thursday, he had allowed one earned run and had 32 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings.
He’s added to that shutout run on the biggest stage of all —against the Boston Red Sox and Yankees.
“I’m stronger right now, my shoulder is stronger and I feel a lot better physically,” he said. “Plus, I’m a more knowledgeable pitcher.”
He’s got the numbers to prove it.
