The Seattle Mariners have done well in recent years
developing young pitchers, with Felix Hernandez, Doug Fister and Blake Beavan among
those who have come up through their system. One of the pitchers from last year’s
draft they hope can do the same is left-hander Scott DeCecco.
DeCecco was dominant at Middle Township High School in New
Jersey. As a senior, he went 7-3 with a 0.75 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 48
innings. As a result he landed at the University of South Carolina Upstate,
where he continued his growth as a pitcher.
He truly blossomed as a junior last year, going 5-3 with a
3.95 ERA. He also struck out 59 batters in 83 innings and intrigued scouts with
his fastball that reached the low 90s.
The Mariners thought enough of DeCecco’s potential that they
chose him in the 21st round of the 2012 MLB Draft. He signed almost immediately
and was sent to short-season Everett to start his professional career.
DeCecco’s first taste of minor league ball had its ups and
downs. He appeared in a total of 16 games (nine starts) and posted a 2-4 record
with a 5.95 ERA. However, he also had 54 strikeouts in 56 innings.
The youngster may have experienced fatigue from the long
season, as his was inflated nearly a full run just from his final four
appearances of the year. More information on his statistics is available at BaseballReference.com.
Check out what the Seattle prospect had to say when we
recently exchanged emails.
Scott DeCecco
Interview:
If you could sit down and pick the brain of any pitcher, current
or former, who would that be and why?: Al Leiter. I grew
up watching him when he was with the Mets in the late ‘90's and early 2000's.
As my career moves on, I feel like he can be a pitcher I use to exemplify how
to be successful in the big leagues. He wasn't overpowering, just like I'm not,
but he controlled the game the way any pitcher wants to during a game. I would like
to ask him about struggles in the minor leagues and how he managed his way to
the big leagues. I would ask him about his daily routine and the way he
prepared using some of his information as a guide.
Leading up to the
2012 MLB Draft, what kind of contact and recruiting were you getting from
different teams?: Leading up to the draft I had been
contacted by 15 different teams. Some of them seemed more interested than
others, and some just sent questionnaires and I never heard from again. I
didn't start receiving questionnaires and phone calls until after our college
pro scout day, which is just an intersquad game.
I threw just an inning and after that I got nine of those
questionnaires. I wasn't a highly scouted player, meaning not many scouts
called me or met up with me, but as the draft got closer most of the 15 teams
called to find out my sign-ability. It was a really hectic season last year and
I tried not letting it creep into my head that one of my dreams can come true,
so I just tried keeping focus on pitching as well as I could.
Can you run through
what Draft Day is like?: I was down in Asheville, North
Carolina for summer baseball. On the first day I knew I wasn't going to hear my
name, since I knew I wasn't going in the top-two rounds. But I had heard from a
few scouts and my college coach that I could maybe find a way up to the 10th
round by the Athletics, so the second day I was pretty anxious about hearing my
name, so I was just following on my phone (even during a summer ball game) if
anything happened.
I also heard from
several scouts that I could be around the 15th-20th round, and since day two
lasted until I believe the 19th round, I was just focused on my phone. Nothing
happened on day two, so I knew it was either day three or nothing at all.
You're still unsure if you will get drafted, so I was just
really anxious and nervous on day three. My girlfriend flew down from New
Jersey, and we went to a sports bar to eat lunch, just to get my mind of the
draft, but it didn't work. My girlfriend and I were on our phones the entire
lunch, just clicking the update button on MLB.com. You're waiting for a phone
call and every time I hear my phone ring I'd kinda freak out.
My brother kept texting me, so I was starting to get
annoyed with him. He kept asking me if I heard anything, and I kept telling him
not if he kept texting me. So he eventually stopped and then one of my buddies
from college called me, and that's when I got really upset because it was an
actual phone call. I immediately hung up with him and looked up at my
girlfriend and she had the biggest smile on her face, and I had no idea, so I
just kept asking her, ‘What? What?’
She pointed down at her phone, and there it was, my name
in the 21st round by the Mariners. It was an unreal feeling and I actually felt
numb; I was definitely on cloud nine. The next time I will probably ever feel
that feeling again is when I get the call up to the big leagues.
What pitches do you throw and which one do you hope to improve the most?: I throw four pitches. A four- seam fastball, two-seam fastball, knuckle-curve and a circle-change. As a lefty, I know how important it is to have a good changeup when I face right-handed hitters. So, through college and my first year of pro ball, I made sure I could virtually throw my changeup consistently well even with my eyes closed.
In college, I threw a slider which kind of acted like a
slurve just because of my arm slot and the way I released it. When I got to
Everett, my pitching coach, Rich Dorman, pretty much told me that my slider wouldn’t
get the job done in the big leagues, so we began work on a curveball. I
couldn't figure it out at first, since I had been throwing a slider for the
past three years and I just wasn't used to actually throwing a curve. I managed
to get through my first year with this bad breaking ball, and when I went to
instructional league and had more time to work on it, I started figuring the
pitch out. I started throwing it more consistently for strikes and the depth in
the curve started getting bigger and sharper. It's not a big league pitch yet,
so I would say that is the pitch I'd improve on the most.
How intense are negotiations
after getting drafted?: For me, negotiations were very easy.
When scouts asked me about my sign-ability, I told them a number that wasn't
ridiculous, just because I knew I wasn't a million-dollar player. I didn't
really know the process, but decided not to sign with an agency before the
draft. When my scout called me right after I had been drafted, he asked me if I
was still in for the number I gave before, and I said yes. We immediately
agreed, and he sent the contract the next day.
What do you believe
sets you apart from other pitching prospects in the Seattle organization?: This organization has so many great pitching prospects. What I
believe sets me apart is my work ethic, being a lefty and the determination I
have. I feel guilty if I'm not trying to find a way to get better every day.
I'm in the gym almost every day or am trying to mentally prepare myself by
reading books and studying myself through video.
There actually aren't that many lefties in the Mariners’
organization, so I believe that is another thing that sets me apart, just because
I know how important left-handed pitchers are in professional baseball.
If the Mariners want me to be a starter, I will. If they
want me to be a lefty specialist, I will. I’ll do anything that can help win. I
wasn't a high draft pick, so I'm not automatically on anybody's prospect watch
list, but I'm determined to get there. I know I'm going to have to work harder
than the guys who are ahead of me, and I know it's possible. I just try to keep
my head down and keep grinding and hopefully one day someone seems something in
me that can help the big league team win, and win for a while.
What is one thing
that you have been asked to work on the most?: I tend to get mentally lost when I'm on the mound, and I start
rushing myself and get out of control with my mechanics. I was asked to slow my
tempo down and learn to focus on the catchers’ mitt and the next pitch I'm
going to execute. I'm starting to get it as I get older and get more experienced.
I know that if I keep trust in myself and worry about what I can only control,
I will get hitters out.
What do you like to
do in your spare time?: In my spare time I like to just
relax and hang out with anybody I can. I'll play video games when I'm bored,
and I'll also watch TV when there's nothing else to do. I try not to sit around
all day when I'm not working out or at the field, so when anything comes up I jump
right on it. I look at Twitter most of the day because that's where I usually
get my information from.
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