Panthers’ pitchers embrace new roles
KITCHENER — On nights he was pitching, Mike Schnurr used to think about the game all day long. He doesn’t have to worry about that now.
The former starter converted into a bullpen reliever for the Kitchener Panthers doesn’t have time to overthink anymore — because he never knows when he might pitch. He just has to show up at the ballpark ready to get into the game at any point.
“It’s different, but I kind of like pitching in every game instead of once a week,” said Schnurr, whose grandfather Bobby (Shaky) Schnurr was a star pitcher for the Panthers and Waterloo Tigers in his day.
“I kind of just do whatever (manager Dave Teboekhorst) wants me to. If he wants me to close a game, I’ll do that, if he wants me to mix in a start, I’ll do that, or I’ll be the first one out if someone gets in trouble in the fifth or sixth inning.”
Schnurr has been a key piece of a Panthers bullpen that has been solid so far this season. The Waterloo native is sporting a tidy 2.25 earned run average over five appearances, and pitched another two scoreless innings against a hot-hitting Barrie Baycats lineup Thursday night.
Instead of dealing with starter’s nerves, he says he enjoys the adrenalin boost when he’s told to warm up in the middle of the game. “I have a bit more on my fastball, the curveball is breaking a little bit more, just because of that adrenalin,” said Schnurr, who pitched for Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania.
Matt McGovern, another former starter, is also embracing the reliever’s role on a team that is relying on two Cuban imports (Ian Rendon and Noelvis Entenza) and two ex-pros (Jasvir Rakkar and Sean Ratcliffe) to anchor its starting pitching this season.
He says he’s happy to pitch out of the bullpen, especially since it takes his arm longer to get in shape as he gets older.
“At the end of last season, I was throwing all right and I was starting, but I’m not there yet. I’m getting up there now, I’m 30 years old, and it takes my body more time to heal,” said McGovern, who pitched three scoreless innings of relief Thursday.
“So I’ll work out of the ’pen until (the manager) tells me otherwise, but I can go either way.”
McGovern, an eight-year veteran of the Intercounty Baseball League, is joined by lefty Matt Vickers and closer Phil Owen as Kitchener relievers who have yet to give up a run in this young season.
Across the IBL, the top teams are increasingly relying on foreign-born, hired guns to lead their starting pitching, which leaves some homegrown talent shuffled into the bullpen.
The London Majors have Murilo Gouvea, a Brazilian ex-pro who’s a former Houston Astros prospect, and former Blue Jays minor leaguer Luis Sanchez. Barrie has Emilis Guerrero, the Dominican-born ex-Red Sox farm hand, and former Kansas City draft pick Adam Rowe. Toronto has Justin Cicatello, a Buffalo native and ex-pro from the Italian Baseball League.
Yorbis Borroto, the Panthers’ imported shortstop, confirms that the pitchers in the Intercounty Baseball League are as good as he’d heard. He says the pitching he’s seen so far is comparable to the stuff he’s used to in Cuba’s top baseball league, which has produced the likes of the Yankees’ Aroldis Chapman.
“The pitching here is good,” he said. “The league is very good, and I have to prepare the same as I do in Cuba.”
Borroto also happens to be very good, despite long delays between games that he’s not used to in Cuba, where teams play almost every night.
He’s hitting .520 in six games, and has been a general menace to opposing pitchers. Borroto, who was captain of the Cuban national team that toured the Can-Am League last season, has yet to strike out in 25 at-bats this season.
The Panthers travel to Hamilton Friday night, before hosting Burlington Sunday at 2 p.m. at Jack Couch Park.
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