So far this year, things have been uneven. He’s made three starts—all against Carolina—and has come away with varying results. He was rocked in his first start for six runs on 10 hits, including two home runs. Five days later, he was brilliant, working six no-hit innings with just two walks blemishing his ledger.
“He’s a young kid,” Febles said. “He’s getting a little taste of the Carolina League. He has three starts, three starts against the same club, and that makes it tougher. It’s kind of hard for young kids when they have to face the same team three straight outings. It hasn’t helped him it all, but with that being said, if you take the three-run homer out, I thought he did an outstanding job. His command wasn’t there (Thursday), but he made some good, quality pitches.”
His most recent start, this past Thursday, was a combination of both. He allowed just two hits over his first four innings—both to lefthander Eric Garcia, one of which left the park—before losing the zone and giving up a monstrous home run to Dustin Peterson on his final pitch.
“Garcia, I think, was sitting on that inside fastball, because I threw it right where I wanted to and he was just sitting on it,” Ball said, recalling Thursday’s outing. “He got the bat around it and hit it a long way. It was the same in the minors last year, too. It’s just something I’ve got to work on, spotting up my pitches the right way.”
Through the two road outings at Carolina, there were two constants that got him into trouble: A lack of command and the lack of a weapon to neutralize lefthanders. To that last point, southpaws in 2014 hit .299/.364/.474 against Ball, and in the three starts this year they’re OPSing 1.053.
Against righthanders, Ball’s changeup, thrown in the low-to-mid-80s and better toward the higher end of that spectrum, is average right now and flashes plus at times. He throws the pitch with the same conviction and arm speed as he does his fastball (which has sat between 89-91 and touched 92), giving him the ability to keep righties guessing. Against lefties, however, his curveball, thrownin the mid-70s, hasn’t been effective. It’s a loopy offering and has soft 2-7 break right over the heart of the plate.
He’s changed the grip on the curveball, from a spike grip to that of a more traditional curve, and is working toward his goal of becoming a more complete pitcher.
“That second half of last year, I really learned how to pitch,” he said. “I think that’s kind of carrying me into this year, and continuing to learn and get better with that. Not relying on my fastball as much (is something that he’s worked to change), just learning to use all three of my pitches and using them in various counts. I think that’s what really helped me.”