Storen gets a shot at redemption
Former Washington closer will be key contributor to Blue Jays’ bullpen
DUNEDIN, FLA.— If you happened to be out behind the Blue Jays’ spring training stadium this month, you might have heard a constant thud, like the sound of a couple of kids shooting pucks against a wall.
Actually, they’re two grown-up kids: Jays relievers who are also hockey fans. Drew Storen and Brett Cecil love to drill a puck at a net, or off a wall. For Storen, the Jays’ newest reliever, it’s a welcome respite for a guy who has several friends on the Washington Capitals.
“They sent me their sticks, but I didn’t know anybody who wanted to do some shooting,” said Storen, the former Washington Nationals closer.
Storen has a shooting buddy in Cecil now and, more importantly, a new challenge with his new baseball team in Toronto. Whether he or incumbent Roberto Osuna would end up as the Jays closer was one of the most closely watched battles of spring training.
Storen has more experience in the late innings than anyone in the Jays bullpen, logging 95 saves over the past six seasons. He was a cornerstone piece in the championship team Washington GM Mike Rizzo was trying to build.
He averaged a career-high 11 strikeouts per nine innings last year in Washington, perhaps his toughest MLB season since he was drafted in the first round, 10th overall, in 2009. Things got messy when Rizzo brought in Jonathan Papelbon at the trade deadline to be the closer. That led to a well-documented drop-off in performance (Storen posted a 9.22 ERA over his final 13 2/3 innings), before his season ended in early September when he punched his locker after a critical loss to the Mets.
Being replaced wasn’t new to Storen. Before the 2013 season, Rizzo acquired Rafael Soriano to be the new closer. That came after a 43-save season in 2011 for Storen, but one that came with a haunting end.
Storen blew the save in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, allowing St. Louis to capture the series. This was as tough as they come, since there were two outs in the ninth and Storen needed just one more strike to close it out. The clubhouse workers had the champagne on ice in the Nationals’ dressing room, waiting to be uncorked.
Last season, Storen endured more soul-wrenching losses, blowing five saves along the way. There’s the struggles of a late-inning reliever, things that invite failure — stuff that no one pays much attention to.
Storen, with Papelbon in the fold, was often told to warm up in the bullpen, then sit down when an offensive threat waned.
For a pitcher who had been steeled on a clearly defined role, the upset in routine can be a sledgehammer to the psyche.
It’s adversity that has defined Storen as a pitcher and, he feels, as a person.
“Nothing is a storybook, you stay around this game because you fight through it. If you sit and feel sorry for yourself, you won’t succeed. If you grind through it, you find things out. When it’s all good, you don’t improve. When you get buried, well, without those experiences, I don’t think I’d be the pitcher and person I am today.”
Storen’s days in Washington were essentially over after the Papelbon trade, but he never expressed any ill feelings to the media. In fact, Storen is one of the more media-savvy players in the major leagues.
His father is Mark Patrick, a celebrity radio show host in the family’s native Indianapolis and he’s second cousin to ESPN host Hannah Storm.
Storen was exposed to the city’s pro athletes through his father, who both interviewed star players and hired retired stars to beef up coverage and analysis.
“Growing up, dad was interviewing a lot of pro athletes. I got to meet a lot of guys and I saw what it was like to be a pro athlete. Those guys were huge to me at the time. I was younger, but I saw that if I worked hard enough, I could get there,” Storen said.
“I kind of had a good idea about being a closer by the time I got to college. Reggie Miller, we used to play HORSE together, and just the way he talked to me, the way he treated me, it was like ‘Uncle Reggie’ was coming over, Uncle Reggie is here . . . I loved it. He made me understand the value of practice and making an impact on young people.”
Indianapolis is “Hoosier Country,” with an indelible tie to basketball. Storen, with a growth spurt in high school, loved the game and became a solid player, meeting the likes of Miller and other stars along the way.
Storen’s spring training locker was home to sticks from T.J. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin.
“I had an Ovie stick, some gloves too . . . last year, (Capitals goalie Braden) Holtby lived near me and I kind of hung out with him for a bit. I said, ‘You got the toughest job in sports, it’s a thankless job.’ But they all (hockey players) were so impressed by what we do (baseball players).”