Albers is getting better with age
The Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak caught up with Milwaukee Brewers reliever Matt Albers to discuss the success of the team’s bullpen, his in-season number change and his affinity for crossword puzzles.
Albers, 35, is 3-1 with a 2.05 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 23 appearances (261⁄3 innings).
He signed a two-year, $5 million contract with Milwaukee on Jan. 29.
Q. You’re on your eighth majorleague team in your 13th season, so you’ve seen a lot. Where would you rank the Brewers’ bullpen, based on talent and performance thus far, among bullpens you’ve pitched out of previously?
A.
We’re definitely up there as one of the best. It just takes guys going out there and doing it. When I came over here, they were preaching it’s a tightknit group and they do stuff together. While that stuff is kind of important, it’s on the field that matters. “Hey, we’re best friends off the field so we’ll be good.” No, I’ve been best friends with guys on teams that weren’t that good, so I don’t think it has that much to do with it. Obviously you don’t want to be at each others’ throats – you can be friendly out there, which we all are – but I just think it's getting out there and focusing. Everybody has that feeling where it’s kind of a closer role. You see bullpen roles kind of flip-flop – (Jeremy Jeffress) started the year as a fifth-inning guy and kind of worked his way back. But that inning is just as important as the starter. You get everybody firing off all cylinders, it makes for a good bullpen.
Q. You mention roles, or the lack thereof, on the Brewers’ bullpen. Is that difficult to get used to? I’d imagine it keeps everyone more engaged because there’s potential for your number to be called at any time.
A.
My role’s kind of switched. I’ve been that middle- to back-end guy so I’ve kind of always pitched different innings. You can definitely see the egos come into play sometimes. I’d say we don’t have that, for sure. The other day, save situation and (Josh) Hader’s out there doing what he does and Corey (Knebel) is just kind of sitting there cheering Hader on. Some closers and guys who have definitely earned that right to pitch in the ninth inning probably would have been upset because they didn’t get the ball right there. But it’s like, “There’s lefties coming up, Hader’s striking everybody out, so I’m totally fine with that. I’ll get my chance.” Then (Knebel) ended up getting the save the next day. I think that’s huge, to put your ego aside a little bit. I know when Corey went down a couple times I was warming up behind Hader – maybe go in, maybe not because he was striking everyone out. They were like, “You’re not going to go in,” and I was like, “I really can’t blame you. He’s doing his job.” So I think that’s important – putting your ego aside a little bit and know it’s going to flip around a little bit. It all goes together and guys are doing their jobs on the mound.
Q. What do you make of how baseball has transitioned to a bullpen game? Five innings from a starter now is kind of the magic number, and the relievers take care of the rest on good teams in many games.
A.
You used to have the starting pitchers who wouldn’t give the ball up. Fifth inning, 75 pitches – when I came up, you’d have asked a couple guys to do that, they probably would have fought the manager. It’s kind of where the game’s going now. You see eight-man bullpens, and that’s definitely going to help. When I came up, you always had 1-2 long guys that pretty much wouldn’t pitch unless it was a blowout one way or the other. You can’t go to the bullpen that much and not pitch everybody. I think that’s one thing now – everybody’s going to get in there by kind of splitting up the outings. Obviously guys who go multiple innings have less outings, but you’re not having guys who have 3-4 outings in a month. You can’t do that when you’re coming into games in the fifth and sixth innings. In the National League, too, spots come up and so they’re going to go to (the bullpen) even quicker . ... We’ve had a few guys come up and down from Triple-A that have done a great job, too. So I think that’s all just kind of helped us.
Q. Having bounced from team to team and city to city since coming up in 2006, is there a science to handling the constant change? Between learning teammates, coaches, staff members and then how to get around in new areas, I would imagine it gets a little tough at times.
A.
Definitely at first it was tough, going from my first organization (Houston) to the second (Baltimore). Meeting all new guys and not knowing really how to put yourself out there. Now, I don’t even know how many teams it’s been in the last few years. I think bullpen guys – I didn’t know Boone Logan, but you come in and you’ve had similar careers and you’ve been in the league for 11 years and been on seven different teams – kind of all stick together. Bullpen guys who have been around the league for a while are usually with multiple teams and have been through the same stuff. So you kind of get used to it. The older you get, the more veteran time you get, it’s a little easier. Especially when you come in knowing you’re going to be on the team. You try to come in and meet the guys in the spring and try to start those relationships.
Q. After wearing No. 37 in the spring you made a deal with bullpen coach Lee Tunnell to take his No. 43. The price wasn’t too high – you agreed to provide baseball gloves to all his grandchildren. You had a career year last season in Washington wearing 43, so was it important to get it?
A.
Last year in spring training with the Nationals I was 71 and when they called me up I was like, “I hope I’m somewhere half of that, under the offensive-line numbers.” I got 43 and enjoyed it. I wasn’t too stuck on numbers; I’ve been a lot of different numbers and usually in the 30s. But I came here and was like, “I’d like to be 43,” and they were like, “Lee’s 43,” and I was like, “Well, we’ll work something out.” It’s one of those things where it’s impossible not to be a little superstitious in baseball. You can call it routine, but you do the same thing every day so if it’s working, you
keep doing that.
Q. I’d imagine you’ve accumulated a lot of jerseys over the course of your career. Have you kept them all? Do you display them in a man cave?
A.
I have multiple jerseys from every team I’ve been with, but I haven’t really done anything with them. They’re kind of sitting in the closet. Now, I have too many jerseys to put up. But it’s not really that important to me. I just kind of have them as keepsakes, and I’ll figure out something to do with them later.
Q. You put together a career year in Washington at an age (34) where most guys’ careers are winding down. How were you able to do that?
A.
It was really just being able to be more consistent and realizing the kind of pitcher I was – sinker, slider – and really trying to get those pitches going. Then adding a changeup into the mix, too. There were a few years, in 2014 and ’15 I missed a year and a half being hurt, so coming back from that and just feeling good overall helped. Just kind of adding all that up. And experience helps, kind of going through it and not being too hard on yourself early in your career. Take those bad outings home with you a little too long. Now, you have a bad outing, you look at it and it’s like, ‘You know what? This is what happened, OK, do this next time out and let’s move on.’
Q. Could you have imagined when you first broke in you’d still be pitching at such a high level at this age?
A.
Not really. Not really. It was all about trying to get in some time. Especially as a reliever in this league, you never know how long your shelf life is. Obviously I wanted to play as long as I could, but it wasn’t my goal that I was going to get 10 years. It’s been a grind. It’s been a battle. A lot of spring trainings where I had to make teams, a lot of teams I had to prove myself to. But I kind of enjoy that, too. You’ve always got to prove yourself in this league. That’s what’s kept me going.
Q. You stood out early this spring by sitting at your locker and doing oldschool crossword puzzles, and you still do them now while many of your teammates are usually on their phones or tablets. Chess games were common in the spring, and guys will play cards as well. Are you a throwback in that regard?
A.
When I came into the league, there would be a bunch of crosswords out and they weren’t even printed off – you’d have to get the hard copy. Then clubbies would always make sure they’d have a bunch of them and guys would go through them and hang out. Last year with the Nationals there were a lot of guys who did crosswords – that was a veteran, older team. Then I come to spring training (with the Brewers) and they were like, “No one’s asked for a crossword here for like, three years.” I like to do them every day. Something routine, just to get your mind going a little bit. It’s been funny. It’s different. Some of the younger guys kind of make fun of me, like, “What are you doing?”
Q. Will we see you trying a New York Times crossword puzzle?
A.
No, that’s above my pay grade. I’ve looked at them a few times. I could guess on them, but it’s not going to work out (laughs).