Before settling in as the Charlotte Knights’ pitching coach, Donnie Veal spent the first half of the season as a part-time roving instructor, working with pitchers in Kannapolis and Winston-Salem. Now that I’ve had a chance to see most of these young pitchers in action myself, I wanted to get Veal’s take. Here are the highlights of our chat last week.
What are your impressions of Jonathan Cannon?
“Cannon is doing really well. He’s a big, strong kid who throws a lot of strikes, and throws at a high velocity. He was a polished college pitcher, so we're just fine-tuning him. He does the basics that we teach at that level really well. He definitely has a good mix and it's just more refining what pitches he has and learning how to use them.”
How about Tyler Schweitzer?
“He’s another college guy. Again, the biggest thing down there we focus on is getting in the strike zone and learning to throw your breaking pitches in the strike zone. Tyler's been doing that and I think that's why he's had a lot of success.”
It seems like when you look at the Kannapolis staff in particular, they pound the strike zone and don’t issue many walks.
“I keep saying it. That's what we focus on down there. That's what we constantly work on in practice, getting in the strike zone, learning to throw your breaking pitch in the strike zone and for the most part, if you limit the walks, everything will take care of itself.”
And, really, that’s what it seems that whole staff has done all year.
“Yeah, that's what we've been preaching. Always great to see Blake Hickman down there working with those guys and Zaleski has been down there lot working with them. And you can see the results on the field.”
Two other guys down there, Shane Murphy and Tanner McDougal, same thing. Low walk rates.
“Yeah, Murphy fills it up. Last time I looked he had one of the lowest walk rates in the league, but again, another guy that pounds the zone and throws his off-speed for strikes and forces the hitters to hit the ball. Same thing with McDougal. Power arm. When he is in the zone early, he’s one of the best arms in the league.”
These guys are all pretty young. As they get older, can they pick up a tick or two on their velo?
“It depends on the guys and what they come in with and just how they move. But maybe we can optimize something with their delivery or get them a little stronger. Some guys are high school guys that haven’t had a weight program or college guys who maybe lifted a little differently in college. So if we can find any ways to tweak, obviously we're always looking and yeah, sometimes we can.”
I talked to Peyton Pallette. He said he feels great coming back from Tommy John surgery but is having trouble finding a consistent release point. How’s he doing and what’s it like for guys coming back from that surgery? Is it like starting over?
“No, it is more like getting your stuff back and fine-tuning. Really, you're healthy, your arm feels good, you feel strong, but you haven't been playing the game for a year -- at least a year. So it's just getting back into the routine of throwing and pitching and competing, not just throwing for your rehab process.”
When guys come back, do they typically have pretty much identical mechanics as before?
“No, it depends on the guy a little. Some people change a little bit, some people have the same mechanics. Sometimes, your arm might move differently after surgery. Sometimes, it might get a little stronger so it's not necessarily the same. Again, each guy is on a case-by-case basis. But yeah, we're definitely trying to first get back to being healthy and then once healthy we can start figuring out how you move and what's best for you and your arm.”
Finally, I’d like to talk about a few guys here in Charlotte, starting with Jordan Leasure. He’s got the big fastball but it seems like he’s been getting hit a little bit more here. Is that because his fastball is getting too much of the plate, or maybe he’s developing a new pitch, a curveball, and that’s getting hit a bit?
“We have been working on different things within his mechanics and delivery just to get him just to optimize what he does and how he moves and honestly I haven't been focused on the hits. His stuff is so good, just getting them in the zone as much as possible early and at this level you’ve got to learn how to exit the zone late. So that's probably the biggest focus. Hits will come, but I'd rather him be giving up hits and being ahead versus being behind the count.”
Has he broken out his curveball in a game yet?
“Yes. He threw one last night. He got a strikeout on it.
The few times I’ve seen him here in Charlotte, the slider looks great.
“Yep. He’s got plus stuff.”
Finally, you picked up two young guys here who were big-time prospects in Luis Patino and Deivi García. What do they need to do to get back on track? Are they coming back from injuries? Is that kind what derailed them?
“We want to help them get back to being athletic and being themselves. Over time, lots of guys work with different guys, different teams, different coaches and might tweak a thing here, tweak a thing there. We are trying to get them back to feeling athletic and natural and free and letting their bodies work how they naturally work. And then we're going to work within that to get them back to being the prospects they were and back to the big-league arms that they are.”
I watched Patino’s start Tuesday night and control was a big issue. Are his mechanics off a little bit?
“That hasn’t been his MO since he's been here with us. It was a little bit of an anomaly. But again, it gets back to being natural and athletic. And, sometimes that process takes a little time. I'm not really concerned with it. We work on some things, talked about it, looked at film and he’s in a good spot.”
Great. Thanks for your time.
