Adding four-seamer to pitch mix gets results for Mariners starter Kendall Graveman
Kendall Graveman might be hearing from his dad following his first intrasquad start of summer camp Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.
Graveman, who hasn’t pitched in a big league game since early 2018, was consistently reaching the mid-to-upper 90s, and mixed in his new four-seam fastball with his usual sinker so well, he sat down nine of the 12 hitters he faced.
“I know who I am as a pitcher, and I’m not going to stray from that,” Graveman said on a video call with reporters after the outing. “I know the sinker is, I feel like, one of the best if not the best in baseball, so I’m not going to completely go away from who I am and what I do, but it makes that pitch, the sinker, that much better when I can open up the top of the strike zone.
“My dad, he’s probably going to watch this,” Graveman continued, smiling. “He’s been telling me it for years, I just hadn’t figured it out. Now to be able to figure out and learn, where to I need to locate? Which guys is it better to? And then it’s figuring out how to pitch and the pitchability of it, is the second part of it, and that’s just going to take some time and experience.”
Graveman, coming off a long Tommy John recovery, said the four-seamer started to really evolve for him during the baseball shutdown, when he was working out back home in Alabama.
“I’ve been working hard on it,” he said. “I was pitching in games before I came here, in some pickup games, and one day in the bullpen before a game, it felt right, and I just held onto that feeling.
“I think a lot of guys that are pitchers, especially at this level, once you feel it once, you can repeat it, and I’ve been trying really hard to repeat that in my throwing programs and being really intentional with that. I would say even since spring training I’ve been working on that pitch and the velocity.”
He’s had two years of “basically being anonymous to pitch and to learn,” he said, and realizing the four-seamer would play, has been working hard to stay behind the pitch and create good backspin.
“I’m trying to create some of that in the top of the zone so guys can’t just sit on sinkers in the bottom of the zone, and I think it’s going to be really beneficial in the future for me,”
The early returns of this strategy for attacking hitters were favorable in Wednesday’s game. Graveman, retired the first seven batters he saw in order on just 18 pitches.
“I’m a tempo guy,” he said. “Let’s get this thing over with. Let’s work fast. I think the defense plays a lot better when you’re working quick, and I think the offense swings it a lot better when the tempo of the game is going well on our side, so let the defense play behind us.
“I thought I created a little more swing-and-miss today, which is good, starting to mix in a few more pitches that I’ve been working hard on the past two years, and it’s starting to show up a little bit.”
Graveman’s pitch count ticked up in the third, and he finished just below 50 pitches, but he ultimately stranded two runners in scoring position.
Tim Lopes logged the first hit off Graveman with one out in the third and Daniel Vogelbach walked before Seattle’s No. 2 prospect, Julio Rodriguez, unloaded with a RBI double that reached the warning track in center field.
Graveman then forced a groundout from Donovan Walton and struck out Braden Bishop — Graveman’s fifth strikeout of the outing — to retire the side. He said
“You get up around the 40-50 pitch mark, it’s just like spring training, the last 10 or 15 are really work pitches,” Graveman said. “ … You’re going to hit that threshold at some point, just trying to build up the strength and the stamina to continue to pitch in games.
“We kind of hit that, but on the flip side, there’s going to be times like that in the season, and you’re going to have to work out of some jams. I thought we did a good job, (catcher Austin) Nola and I, of getting out of that jam with only one run scoring.
“That’s the positive of it is being able to pitch when your stuff is diminishing a little bit throughout a game, and to be able to reach back and get two outs there, and leave guys stranded, to me that’s more important than if I would have cruised through the third inning.”
Graveman should get one more start in intrasquad play before the Mariners head to Houston to open the season on July 24. The way he is trending, he hopes to build up to five innings for the start of the regular season, but is satisfied with how he has progressed so far in camp.
“There’s a lot of work that’s gone on in the two years of rehab,” he said. “I didn’t take it lightly. I made a commitment to myself to work hard and continue to get stronger, and I think I’ve done that.
“I’m very happy where my body is right now, the way it feels, the way it’s coming out of the hand.”
SHORT HOPS
Rodriguez recorded his first hit of intrasquad play in the third, crushing a RBI double to the warning track in center field. While participating in postgame drills on the field later, Rodriguez appeared to injure his wrist and walk back to the dugout with a trainer. No immediate update from the Mariners was given. … Top prospect Jarred Kelenic has played in the past five intrasquad games, and has reached base safely in each appearance. He logged another hit Wednesday, singling in a run, and is now 6-for-9 with two doubles, two homers, four RBI, two stolen bases, two walks and two strikeouts in camp. … Utility player Sam Haggerty doubled in both of his at-bats, and drove in a pair of runs. … Dee Gordon was a late scratch from the game and was replaced by former Mariners minor leaguer Louis Boyd, who was set to begin his first season as the manager of Short-A Everett before the minor league season was canceled. Boyd was an infielder in Seattle’s system in 2017 and 2018, reaching High-A Modesto before he retired from playing. … The Pilots won their first game of intrasquad play, topping the Steelheads, 4-1, in three innings. The Steelheads still lead the series 4-1-1.
ON TAP
The Mariners will play their seventh intrasquad game Thursday, beginning at 2:45 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the Mariners’ YouTube and Twitch channels. Broadcasters Dave Sims and Gary Hill will call the game.
