Bill Chastain of RayBaseball.com takes a look at Andy Sonnanstine, and his battle to make this years roster after a sluggish 2009.
After rocky 2009, right-hander ready to regain form
By Bill Chastain / MLB.com
to find a positive from the most disappointing season of his professional career, and then he moved on.”I visited my family and friends, enjoyed the fact that I was healthy, that was one of the things that was positive I could get out of the situation [from 2009],” Sonnanstine said. “There’s no sense in beating yourself up. That doesn’t help you correct the situation.
“Whether it’s working out, watching video, playing catch, hitting off the tee or taking ground balls those things are going to make me better for the 2010 season. There’s no sense in beating myself up about what could have been.”
Sonnanstine, the perpetual underdog, found himself in an unusual position last spring when he arrived in camp without really having to compete for a job. But after playing an integral role in the Rays’ 2008 World Series run by posting a 13-9 mark with a 4.38 ERA in 32 starts, the right-hander regressed to 6-9 with a 6.77 ERA in 22 appearances in 2009, including a trip back to Triple-A Durham.
Thus, the times have changed for Sonnanstine and he once again finds himself in the familiar underdog role. He showed up at camp this spring as the Rays’ sixth starter — the team will keep five — and a bullpen hopeful. Lingering in the background is the puzzle that needs to be solved concerning what happened in 2009.
“When you get down to the root of his problem, probably the most basic factor was the command and the command in the strike zone,” Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey said. “He didn’t walk a lot of guys. But in the strike zone, he missed spots. And when you don’t have that overpowering stuff, you know, it’s a lot less forgiving when you miss it in the strike zone.”
Prior to 2009, Sonnanstine’s biggest struggles were against left-handers. They hit .318 against him in 2007 and he dropped that number to .265 in 2008 and .275 in 2009. Unfortunately, while mending the fence against left-handers, Sonnanstine’s production against right-handers increased from .266 in 2007, to .289 in 2008 and finally .367 in 2009, results that left Rays manager Joe Maddon and his staff scratching their heads.
Addressing the problem, Maddon said they have looked at a lot of issues that affected Sonnanstine’s 2009 performance, of which he wasn’t willing to share the specifics. Suffice it for the Rays manager to say:
“We have ideas how we can get him stronger once again against right-handers and maintain what he did against left-handers.”
For his part, Sonnanstine didn’t sit around during the offseason and hope that things would get better. Instead, he took action. First he paid a visit to his college pitching coach at Kent State, Mike Birkbeck, who is now the school’s associate head coach.
“One of the things he noticed was getting the ball out, extension,” Sonnanstine said. “I feel like a little bit in [2009] I wasn’t finishing where I should have been. That could have caused a lot of different things, lack of late movement and possibly missing locations.
“He’s the type of dude who tore me down as far as mechanics and built me up again in college. I really value his opinion. We had a few long talks about the physical side, the mental side, about how I probably needed to hit the weights a little harder as I get older in the game.”
Once Sonnastine left Ohio, he got to work in St. Petersburg doing the extra things he felt he needed to do in order to step up his game and rekindle his past mound magic. Maddon complimented Sonnanstine for that work, noting that he registered first on the show-up list for offseason workouts and training.
Sonnanstine is intelligent and understands his situation. He still has options, which means the Rays could send him to Triple-A without risk of losing him. If that were the case, he could stay stretched out as a starter for possible use in a pinch. He also could earn a spot in the rotation if any of the five starters seem to regress or are injured, or he could earn a spot in the bullpen.
Sonnanstine wasn’t reluctant to address his situation, but he qualified his remarks by noting he still needed to “iron out exactly what’s going on” with the team before getting into the issue too deeply. But he did say, “I came into Spring Training thinking, believing I was competing for a spot in the rotation.”
Maddon didn’t hesitate to state his intentions for Sonnanstine.
“Right now, I just want him to compete for the last starting job and the last bullpen job — he’s eligible for both,” Maddon said. “I’m not concerned about him being stretched out in the Minor Leagues. If he’s earned the right to be on our staff, he’s going to be here.”
Sonnanstine conceded that a situation such as his can be a “little bit” tough mentally.
“But I feel like I’m pretty strong mentally,” Sonnanstine said. “And whatever happens happens. I’m here to help the organization win. Sometimes situations you don’t like help the organization win and you just have to swallow it.”
Thomas Gemkow is the editor-in-chief of TampaBayRaysFan.com. Founded in January of 2009, TampaBayRaysFan.com is a compilation of all the best of the Rays, from across the web. The website can be followed on Twitter
