Room for one more?
Cishek hopes to join fellow sidearmer Smith in bullpen
A few weeks ago, Steve Cishek caught someone familiar walking into Cressey Sports Performance, a Florida-based training facility populated by professional ballplayers each winter. Cishek’s face graces the front of the organization’s website and touts the veteran reliever as a devotee of “sevenplus years” to the place.
Cishek recognized this new trainee’s features but could not distinguish the face. Both men were masked, of course. Joe Smith continued his day of preseason preparation. Cishek’s struggle persisted.
“That guy looks familiar,” Cishek said. “He came up to me and introduced himself, and I’m like, ‘Ohh, I’ve watched plenty of video on you.’ ”
Soon enough, the two men started their conversation and an impromptu meeting of a small but selective baseball fraternity. Sidearmers are few and far between in big league bullpens. Cishek and Smith are two of the longest-tenured among them.
They connected briefly while making pregame walks to opposing bullpens through the years, but never anything more than that.
After Cishek signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2015, he scoured the internet for videos of Smith and Darren O’Day — two sidearmers with far more American League experience. How did they
attack certain AL stalwarts? Was there anything Cishek could emulate in his transition?
Cishek and Smith swapped stories, although Cishek, one of countless free agents falling victim to as low-moving, pandemic depressed winter, remained without a job. Smith spoke about the Astros’ camaraderie and clubhouse. Cishek became intrigued.
“He was talking about how tight-knit and how close the locker room is, how laid-back it is, and the guys want to get after it,” Cishek said. “And it shows. This team has been successful for, what, six years now?”
Cishek had negotiations with another major league team in February. Pitching coach Brent Strom phoned Cishek the next day to make a pitch on behalf of the Astros. Strom’s seamless combination of newage analytics with gut-feel freedom piqued Cishek’s curiosity. Cishek, 34, calls himself an “old-school guy who goes off feel.”
“Obviously, the numbers help me out to show me what I was struggling with last year, but once I get the numbers back, it’s a matter of feel. He’s able to do both of those things,” Cishek said. “I liked hearing that. That was a huge deciding factor here.
“As soon as I was done talking with Strom, I called my agent and said, ‘All right, let’s make it happen. This is exactly where I think I can fit in.’ ”
Cishek signed a minor league contract that calls for a $2.25 million salary if he makes the major league team. His experience and durability afford him an excellent chance to win a spot.
After the Astros’ failure to acquire an established closer this winter, Cishek’s 132 career saves draw most of the attention. No other man on Houston’s roster has more than 30.
“I still feel like I can pitch in the ninth inning,” Cishek said. “If everything is clicking, I feel like I have no excuse (not) to get three outs in any given inning. I’ve always treated, if it’s the fifth, sixth, seventh inning, as if it were the ninth just to be able to pass the baton to the next guy in the bullpen. That’s how I treated it over the years.”
Cishek clearly has the track record, but whether the Astros will ordain him — or anyone — a closer is unclear. Perhaps general manager James Click and manager Dusty Baker value a matchup-based path to finish games with multiple arms. Figuring that out on Feb. 18 is impossible.
Cishek first must make the team before any closer talk can border on reality. He endured an awful 2020 season with the Chicago White Sox. Righthanded hitters — normally stymied by his sidearm delivery — feasted on his flat twoseam fastball, slashing .319/.396/.617 in 53 plate appearances. Cishek yielded 21 hits and four home runs in 20 innings.
Cishek’s arsenal is two pitches: a sinking, twoseam fastball and a slider. He spent the three-month pandemic shutdown last year trying to establish more depth with his slider. He accomplished the goal but paid a price.
Unknowingly, Cishek raised his arm slot by six inches, creating a cutting action on his two-seamer. The rotation of the baseball was different, more flat. Cishek threw 168 fastballs in 2020. Hitters slugged .789 off them.
“That’s the first time in my career my two-seamer’s gotten hit that hard,” Cishek said. “I’ve been hit hard plenty of times but not on a consistent basis like that. Obviously, it was a wake-up call that something wasn’t right.
“I tried to make the adjustments, and by that time, half the season’s already passed. It’s a twomonth season. This offseason, I really tried to focus on getting my arm slot back down, getting my hand in the right position for my sinker, and letting the slider come back through.”
Cishek carries enough of a résumé to claim 2020 as an aberration. He made 150 appearances for the Chicago Cubs between 2018 and 2019 and posted a 2.55 ERA. He has saved at least 25 games thrice in his 11year career. Righthanded hitters have a .571 OPS against him in 1,348 plate appearances.
Harnessing any of that form will almost guarantee Cishek a spot in Houston’s bullpen alongside another sidearmer — one he’ll see beyond just a computer screen nowadays.
“It’s a tough look for hitters,” Click said. “We know how good his stuff is, and the odd angles can create some interesting matchups — especially when you look at our bullpen. As far as him and Joe Smith in particular, they’re both very talented pitchers, and if we end up having too many talented pitchers in the bullpen, that’s a problem we’ll be happy to have.”