at a nearby minor-league ballpark admitting more than 2,000 fans per game. Kloffenstein figured it couldn’t hurt to ask the Blue Jays if they’d let him spend his summer playing independent ball instead of waiting for a phone call that might never come.
Mentally, Kloffenstein was going through it. A season prior, when he made 13 starts with the low-A Vancouver Canadians, he was already three year’s young for the level. Now he was facing hitters who were in the majors a year before that when Kloffenstein was playing high school ball. One of the first batters he faced was Courtney Hawkins, a 2012 first-round pick and fellow Texan who Kloffenstein idolized as a 12-year-old.
Kloffenstein settled in from there and started attacking hitters more aggressively, trusting his ability and that he belonged. A particularly rough, six-run inning inflated his 4.64 COVID-league ERA. But he finished his time there with scoreless outings in five of his final eight appearances, striking out nearly a batter an inning.
A focus this winter has actually been slowing his secondary pitches down, so he can locate more consistently and throw them with better action. Kloffenstein’s been toying with different grips and release points. Even fine details like how tight he holds the ball or where he sets his gaze on the catcher. He’s not complaining about the extra velocity. He’d just like to have it in reserve if he needs it rather than tapping into it all the time.
Another was Marcus Stroman, who the Blue Jays have a stockpile of data on from the 146 outings he pitched for the team earlier in his career. Stroman’s sinker isn’t as firm as Treinen’s, but it still moves a ton — and he threw it as a starter, finding multiple ways to set it up and play it off the rest of his arsenal over multiple innings, which is what Kloffenstein will need to do someday.
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