STAYING POWER
Sean Reid-Foley has been to the big leagues. Now the Jays prospect has to find a way to stay there,
SARASOTA, FLA.— Sean Reid-Foley’s big-league debut is behind him, but he hasn’t yet cracked the code to staying in The Show.
“You start trying to put together the puzzle, trying to stay and trying to be one of the guys up here,” he said Saturday about his off-season focus.
The 23-year-old made his first start of spring here on Sunday in the Blue Jays’ 9-8 loss the Baltimore Orioles, six-and-ahalf months after he first stepped on a major-league mound last year. Reid-Foley made two starts in August, posting an 8.68 ERA, before refining his game over five September starts, when he put up a 3.75 ERA.
It feels different to come into spring as a starter, he said after pitching later in Grapefruit League games last year.
The adrenalin was pumping when he took the mound against the Orioles, and it showed. He gave up a walk and two hits, including a three-run home run, in his first inning of work, a déjà vu of last year when he was dinged for 14 homers and 71 walks between the majors and the minors.
But unlike last year, when Reid-Foley sometimes questioned his capability against big-league talent, he was able to control his adrenalin and bounce back for a 1-2-3 second inning.
“You realize it is the same game and you can kind of take a deep breath, especially because I’ve already made my debut,” he said before his start. “It’s still special to be (in the majors) and it always will be, if I’m lucky to play until I’m 35, 37. Every day is awesome to play in the big leagues. It’s more one of those things where it’s like you’re meant to be here, embrace it, relax.”
Finding what works to keep him in the big leagues will be a case of trial and error, he admits.
Reid-Foley is also keen to avoid getting caught up in the fight for the final spot in the rotation. The guys he is going up against — like Borucki and Pannone — are his locker mates and his allies off the field.
“The way I look at it, you’re either in the big leagues or you’re in Triple-A. No matter what, you’re pitching. Obviously, best case scenario is the big leagues. Other best case scenario is Triple-A, I’m a call away,” he said. “You don’t really ever think about it (like a battle) because then it gets into, like, you can stop talking to people and stuff, which you don’t want. Me, Pannone and Borucki are all really close, so that’s not us.”
That said, Reid-Foley knows he can’t hold back in the preseason. He will work on finessing both his slider and his changeup this spring. He feels like he put his body and his arm in good position to compete from day one. And he felt good after seeing “lots of pitches right around the glove on Saturday,” conceding that he doesn’t think he’ll ever be a “pinpoint command guy.”
Even as Reid-Foley sorts out what will keep him in the big leagues, he can see how far he has already come.