Poulin has pitched his way into Yard Goats’ ‘trust tree’
HARTFORD — Making the move up to any higher level of organized baseball is never easy. Making the jump from Class-A to Double-A may be the toughest jump of all.
PJ Poulin found that out the hard way over much of the past six weeks. After dominating at High-A Spokane the first two months of the season, just as he had at short-season Boise in 2018 and with Class-A Asheville in 2019, Poulin was promoted to Hartford on June 30.
He struggled mightily.
The former UConn closer allowed two runs and got just one out in his second outing on July 4 against Altoona, and things didn’t get much better over the next month. After allowing two hits and a run in an inning of work against New Hampshire on Aug. 3, Poulin’s ERA with the Yard Goats stood at 9.00.
“There’s always an adjustment getting to this level,” Yard Goats manager Chris Denorfia noted. “We say this is kind of the separator level. A lot of guys can cut it in A-ball, then they get here and this is kind of the man’s league. This is where it starts.”
Since then, however, Poulin has locked into a groove. Over his last three outings, the 6-foot-1 left-hander has hurled 22⁄3 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, striking out two and walking none. It may not sound like much, but it’s a long way from July 4, or Aug. 3.
“There was a little bit of an adjustment at the beginning for me,” Poulin said earlier in the week. “Just being able to use my off-speed stuff effectively, in the zone to out of the zone — which I wasn’t doing at the start, plain and simple. As of late, I’ve been doing a better job at that. I think that’s shown in my past few outings.”
It’s made pitching in front of family and friends a lot easier for Poulin, a product of Marion, Massachusetts, about two hours east of Hartford on Buzzard’s Bay, near Cape Cod.
“It’s great to be back home,” Poulin said.
Poulin noted that early on with the Yard Goats, his changeup and slider were never strikes coming out of his hand. Now, he’s locating those pitches better, as well as executing his fastball in and out of the zone.
“One thing we weren’t worried about with him was his stuff, and his ability to compete,” Denorfia noted. “That’s why he got the promotion in the first place.”
Indeed, after being selected by the Rockies in the 11th-round of the 2018 MLB Draft, Poulin posted a 1.96 ERA in 24 appearances at Boise. He spent the entire 2019 season at Asheville, posting a 2.90 ERA in 54 outings. Poulin spent just about all of last summer at home, with the minorleague season canceled, but began this year at Spokane and dominated. He struck out 37 batters in 23 innings, walked just six, held opposing hitters to a .141 average and posted a 2.35 ERA and a sterling 0.74 WHIP.
“We knew it was just a matter of getting him comfortable, continue to keep working and put him in some spots where maybe he could have a little bit of success,” Denorfia added. “And now, he’s rolling. We feel great putting him in anywhere.”
Poulin, who set a UConn single-season record with 16 saves as a junior in 2018, doesn’t really have a defined role out of the Yard Goat’s bullpen right now. Such roles are merit-based, according to Denorfia.
“We want to have that sort of an atmosphere that’s competitive in the bullpen,” the skipper said. “For him right now, we say he’s in the ‘trust tree.’ He’s really shown that we can count on him coming into any spot, whether that’s guys on base, or a clean inning late in the game. We feel great putting him in anywhere.”
For his part, Poulin isn’t worried about having any specific role.
“I’m just focused on, when my name is called, going out there and executing pitches,” he said. “If a role comes out of that, that’s awesome. But that’s the main focus right now.”
A PAIR OF MIGHTY MUSSELS
Former Amity High and UConn star Patrick Winkel made his professional debut early last week, and he was a big hit right off the bat.
Winkel ripped the 11th pitch of his first pro at-bat for a go-ahead single on Tuesday for the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, Low-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. Winkel, the Orange product who was Connecticut’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2017, was a ninth-round pick by the Twins in the 2021 MLB Draft.
Winkel’s UConn teammate, Kyler Fedko, also made his pro debut that night. Fedko went 0-for-4, but the following night, picked up from where he left off after hitting over .400 for UConn this season by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored against Dunedin. Fedko, a Pennsylvania native, was a 12th-round pick by the Twins this past July.
A host of other 2021 draft picks with local ties have also recently made their pro debuts at the Low-A level. New Haven’s Andrew Marrero, who starred at Wilbur Cross and UConn, got off to a rough start with the Palm Beach Cardinals. But after surrendering 10 earned runs in his first two innings of work, Marrero has tossed 1 2⁄3 shutout frames in his last two outings, allowing one hit, striking out two and walking one.
Watertown’s Justin Guerrera has been absolutely ablaze with the Low-A FCL Mets. The former Fairfield star is hitting .444 (16for-36) with two homers, 10 RBI and eight runs scored through his first 10 games.
Former Quinnipiac catcher Colton Bender of Lebanon has been equally hot with Lake Elsinore (Padres), hitting .341 with a homer and eight RBI in his first 11 games as a pro. Former UConn closer Caleb Wurster has a 3.18 ERA through four relief outings with the FCL Marlins.
Darien’s Emmet Sheehan, a sixth-round draft pick by the Dodgers, struck out the side in his pro debut on Aug. 13 but got blasted for five runs in 1 2⁄3 innings in his next outing on Thursday. Shelton’s Trey McLoughlin has struck out five but allowed four earned runs in his first two innings with the St. Lucie Mets.
Ellington’s Frank Mozzicato, the No. 7 overall pick in the draft by Kansas City, and Westport’s Ben Casparius, a fifth-round pick by the Dodgers, haven’t started playing affiliated ball yet.