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PREVIEW )
PREVIEW
(TB)
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 Recent
Client News |
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Halsey hopes he can keep his hot streak
going |
BY JIM BAUMBACH
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
June 18, 2004
PHOENIX – Brad Halsey isn't kidding
himself. The 23-year-old lefthander will
make his major-league debut tomorrow for
the Yankees and he acknowledged
yesterday that he's already feeling his
share of nervous energy. But he also
realizes that's normal.
"I almost wish it was today to get on
with it," Halsey said in a telephone
interview as his flight from Rochester
to Los Angeles was being delayed. "But
when you're pitching for the first time
on a new level, I don't think the nerves
ever go away. As soon as you get that
first out, it becomes easier to handle,
but it doesn't go away."
Halsey knows the feeling. After helping
the University of Texas win the 2002
College World Series, the Yankees
drafted him in the eighth round – he was
one of four Texas pitchers the Yankees
took that year – and he has quickly
risen through the minors.
Halsey has performed well on each level,
but this season he has come into his own
at Triple-A Columbus, where he has
allowed only one run in his last 29 1/3
innings. With Kevin Brown on the
disabled list, it was an easy decision
to use the red-hot Halsey.
The official word reached him Wednesday
when Columbus manager Bucky Dent pulled
him aside, but Halsey knew what was
coming. "One of the equipment guys from
Tampa called the day before for my
uniform sizes," Halsey said, "so I had a
good idea."
In his last seven starts, Halsey was
been nothing short of dominant, going
5-1 with an 0.86 ERA while allowing only
36 hits and 10 walks in 47 1/3 innings.
He credits his recent success to
bringing back the split-fingered
fastball into his repertoire of pitches.
Halsey said he stopped throwing the
split last year because he wanted to
develop a changeup to go along with his
slider, thought to be his best pitch,
and his fastball that tops out at 90
miles per hour. After a year without the
pitch, Columbus pitching coach Neil
Allen suggested to him last month that
it was time to start throwing the split
again.
"By taking away that pitch, it really
allowed me to develop confidence in my
changeup," he said. "Now that I've
started throwing my split again, I
really feel like I have enough
confidence in both of those pitches to
throw them at anytime."
The results have backed it up. Halsey
has effectively used his split-fingered
fastball in two-strike counts, gaining
more strikeouts and groundouts. In a 4-0
shutout over Rochester on June 10,
Halsey struck out six and recorded 14
groundouts.
"When I'm going good, the thing I do
best is locating my fastball and just
going after guys," Halsey said. "I try
to work fast and make them put the ball
in play."
Halsey is from Austin, Tex. and grew up
a Houston Astros fan, but he has New
York ties. His agent, Tom O'Connell,
graduated from Shoreham-Wading River
High and played baseball at Suffolk CC,
so he knows a think or two about the New
York baseball scene. And Halsey's
first season of professional baseball
took place in Staten Island.
"Going to Staten Island that first year
really helped me understand the
experience of being in New York City,"
he said. "It helped me realize what it
means to play there."
He remembered taking a tour of Yankee
Stadium with his teammates and taking in
a Yankees game as a fan one day after
they won the New York-Penn League. He
said he was motivated by seeing Monument
Park and being inside the home
clubhouse, but he also realizes that the
odds of getting a full-time job with the
Yankees are still very slim.
"You have to recognize that you can't
control what's going on in the majors,"
he said. "All you can do is perform to
the best of your abilities and try to
get better. Some of our coaches even
have said, 'There's 30 clubs out there
watching. That's not to say you won't
get a chance with the Yankees, but when
you approach your work every day, try to
find out ways to get better not only to
help the Yankees but also to improve as
a player.'"
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
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