Fresh start is a challenge for OF
Athletics prospect eyes new chance after his release
BRADENTON, Fla. — Dustin Fowler is no stranger to feeling pressure.
When the Yankees made an aggressive move and acquired pitcher Sonny Gray from the Athletics at the 2017 trade deadline, Fowler was the primary piece going back to Oakland, a toolsy outfielder many projected to become the club’s center fielder of the future.
Aware of those expectations, Fowler admitted to pressing whenever he was promoted to the big club the next season, producing a meager .610 OPS in 69 games and failing to make a positive impression.
Given a fresh start with the Pirates after they acquired him from the A’s for cash on Feb. 24, Fowler said he’s embracing the challenge of competing for a job in the outfield while also trying to avoid putting too much pressure on himself.
“Being in a trade, I was supposed to be the center fielder of the future in 2017,” Fowler said on a Zoom call Saturday morning prior to his first game action of the spring. “I tried to do too much in certain situations, and it caused me some problems.
“Coming over here, I’m just gonna try to take a deep breath, relax and play the best I can play. I want to have fun and enjoy the opportunity.”
Fowler served as the designated hitter and led off against Jameson Taillon and the Yankees at LECOM Park. After producing a strikeout and a groundout in his first two at-bats, Fowler ripped a single in his third, the ball sizzling at a gamehigh 106.5 mph.
“It’s a fresh chance for him,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Fowler. “Even the swing before the hit, he took a fastball up and kinda tomahawked it to first. Good swing. He’s had good swings in the simulated games we’ve had. It’s nice to see him on the field. Interested to watch him swing the bat and play defense.”
The Pirates acquiring Fowler — who was designated for assignment whenever the Athletics had to make room on their 40-man roster for pitcher Trevor Rosenthal — as they did makes a lot of sense. It was the consummate low-risk, high-reward move.
As recently as 2018, Fowler was a top 100 prospect (No. 88), according to Baseball America, lauded for his ability to run and hit, blending average with some occasional pop. That year, Fowler also enjoyed a successful return from a gruesome knee injury that marred his MLB debut on June 29, 2017.
Playing right field, Fowler was tracking a foul ball off the bat of Chicago’s Jose Abreu when he collided with a metal box and ruptured the patellar tendon in his knee. The injury happened in the top of the first inning, and Fowler never batted before having season-ending surgery.
“No one wants to start their major league career that way,” Fowler said. “I think it’s played a big role in how my career has gone.”
Fowler felt the injury delayed his development, forcing him to worry about coming back from that as opposed to turning his attention to more baseball-related things such as pitch selection or minimizing strikeouts.
Health wasn’t an issue for Fowler in 2018, although his approach was questionable. It was the type of thing that might work in the minor leagues but doesn’t leave a great impression on those running a major league club.
Fowler slashed .341/.364/.520 in 55 games (229 at-bats) with Class AAA Nashville, but he was overaggressive and walked just nine times. It likely didn’t take major league pitchers long to exploit that — throwing lower- quality pitches early in counts, knowing Fowler would chase — and he hit just .224 and whiffed around 30% of the time on non-fastballs.
Perhaps the most damning stat showing Fowler’s approach of trying to attack early in counts involved the eight walks he had in 192 atbats compared to 47 strikeouts.
“I’ve never been a guy who walks a lot,” Fowler said. “It’s something we’ve worked on my entire career.”
Slowing his approach at the plate also had some benefits. In 2019, Fowler said he pushed himself to see more pitches. He would almost automatically take the first pitch, trying to get comfortable working deeper in counts.
After doing that, a funny thing started to happen. As Fowler began to trust that he didn’t have to hit one of the first two or three pitches he saw, he began to see better ones, mistakes by pitchers who were also not terribly comfortable working deep in counts.
Statistically, it produced the best power season of Fowler’s career, where he had 25 home runs, 22 doubles, 7 triples, 89 RBIs and an .810 OPS. Fowler’s previous career-high for home runs in a season was 13. He also walked 42 times — not a ton, but in terms of walk rate, it represented about an 80% improvement over the previous season.
“I’ve always been a guy who’s going to be in and out of the at-bat in two or three pitches,” Fowler said. “So it was a big step for me to see more pitches and get my walks up. It allowed me to pick a certain pitch and drive it.”
The tough part for Fowler came that September, when he was perfectly healthy, had a terrific minor league season and was never promoted to the big leagues. In Fowler’s mind — and he’s probably not wrong here — he was bypassed by others in the organization who had made a better impression on decisionmakers.
“That was a big shock for me, not getting the call after having such a good season and making big strides on things I had been working on for a long time,” Fowler said.
The 2020 season saw Fowler stuck at Oakland’s alternate training site, again without any sort of meaningful opportunity. All of that changed late last month when the A’s DFA’d Fowler, and the Pirates called two days later.
Now, as he finds himself in a competition for the starting center field job along with Anthony Alford, Brian Goodwin and Jared Oliva, Fowler is trying to not put too much pressure on himself. He’s more focused on having fun and enjoying baseball for what it is — a game.
“There were a bunch of outfielders in Oakland, so I didn’t have much of a chance,” Fowler said. “It’s exciting to get here, kinda get a fresh start. I’m happy to be here. Hopefully I can do the most with the opportunity I’m getting here.”