S.F. isn’t giving up on Crick; he isn’t, either
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It was the sixth inning of the Cactus League opener when a gaggle of Giants and Reds wearing uniform numbers in the 70s and 80s competed as fans looked at their roster sheets and said, “Now who is that again?”
No. 73 was pitcher Kyle Crick, who walked a batter, allowed a single, and yet walked off the Scottsdale Stadium mound with no runs allowed. It meant little to the ticket-holders who rose after the inning to get a hot dog or a beer. It meant everything to Crick, the prospect who has fallen and seemingly cannot get up.
“It was pretty special for me,” Crick said, “mostly because it was the opener. While I was out there, I had some jitters. I was nervous. It was really good to get back to that feeling.
“It’s been a while since I’d felt like that on the mound, when you have to take a step
back and gather yourself before you throw a pitch.”
Last season, starter Ty Blach emerged from the minors and electrified Giants fans. Sometime this season, Tyler Beede is expected to do the same.
Before Blach and Beede, there was Crick, the Giants’ sandwich-round pick in the 2011 draft, a high schooler from Texas with a great build and knock-your-socks-off stuff.
Fans who long ago got excited about Crick also long ago gave up on him as newer flavors arrived, but Crick is still here, in his fourth big-league camp, still on the 40-man roster, still on the radar of a front office that looks past those hideous walk totals and WHIPs and sees a pitcher — only 24 — who can live up to his pedigree as a high draft pick.
“He’s still got youth on his side, especially for a pitcher,” said Brian Sabean, executive vice president of baseball operations. “Maybe most importantly, he’s got size, strength, athletic ability and a swing-and-miss fastball. Now, it’s about what role they put him in and how consistent he can be.
“We’ve all seen flashes of his talent.”
A dozen players whom the Giants drafted and signed after Crick have reached the major leagues, including pitchers Blach, Steven Okert, Josh Osich and Derek Law. Beede could be next.
All 12, however, pitched in college. Crick did not. His travails underscore the risks of spending high draft picks on high school arms. It’s like grabbing a pair of dice and trying to roll snake eyes. The odds are tough, but the potential reward is great.
Crick looked like a big win in 2013, when at age 20, he started 14 games for Class A San Jose and finished with a 1.57 ERA, 95 strikeouts in 682⁄3 innings and a walk rate of 5.1 batters per nine innings — high, but not unexpected in the low minors.
In 2014, Crick was facing much older and tougher hitters in Double-A, a leap that knocked him for a loop. His command did not improve. It got only worse. There, in Richmond, Va., his career stalled. He repeated Double-A in 2015, and again in 2016.
Crick’s stats over the three seasons, most notably the unsightly WHIPs of 1.544, 1.794 and 1.624, reflected a maddening inability to repeat his delivery and throw strikes consistently, the basic building block of pitching.
Crick long ago reached the nexus of physical failure, declining confidence and a sometimes-questioned work ethic, an often fatal cocktail for a prospect’s career. The organization has tried everything to fix Crick, changing his delivery and repertoire, making him a reliever in 2015. In hindsight, maybe the Giants threw too much at him.
Crick admitted to thoughts of quitting.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t,” he said, “When you are in those dark places and those tough spots, it’s hard to find the confidence.”
Confidence does trickle into his mind when he flips on a big-league game and sees hitters he has struck out or pitchers he has beaten, the ultimate reminder that he has the tools.
“The only difference between me and a Matt Cain, or me and a Madison Bumgarner, in my opinion, would be the attitude and the conscious effort to repeat things over and over and over again,” he said. “It’s almost methodical. I watch Bumgarner’s bullpen and Cain’s and (Matt Moore’s), and these guys are just machines.”
Crick said he is in “a different place mentally” this spring after long conversations with team officials over the offseason that convinced him he is still in their plans. Now, he is taking advantage being in the same clubhouse with those pitching “machines” he wants to emulate.
“He’s asking the right questions. He’s talking to the right guys, especially in this environment,” said Beede, who was Crick’s teammate in Richmond the past two seasons.
“He wants to get better. That’s probably the biggest thing for him. He’ll figure it out. He needs to know how good his stuff is, because it’s really, really good. It’s just a matter of time.”