Purcey has learned his lesson
June 27, 2008
Former Oklahoma pitcher David Purcey has learned plenty in his two big league starts this season, including when to push himself and when to throttle back.
He was back at Triple-A Syracuse by the following morning but with a lesson learned. For each spot start, Toronto made it clear he wasn’t going to stay, a fact that made the experience harder.
“It’s more of a comfort to know that if you do well, you have a spot in the rotation,” he said. “For me it was spot starts and I was just overthrowing, trying to do too much.”
Purcey hasn’t been called up since, but he’s getting closer to sticking around when the next opportunity comes. He was a first-round pick in 2004 and has steadily developed his pitches since leaving OU.
“In college it was basically a fastball and a curve,” he said. “Since then I’ve developed a slider and a changeup. That’s sometimes hard for fans to see, but I know I’m a much better player now.”
Purcey is 6-6 with a 2.96 ERA and 93 strikeouts for Syracuse this season. Like most Triple-A players, he has no clue when his next big league shot might come.
“We’ve got five starters that are pitching pretty well,” he said. “It’s out of my hands. I know when it does happen I’ll be more comfortable. I know less is more for me, and as long as I go out and do my job it’ll work out.”
•Kozma enjoyed All-Star game: Former Owasso shortstop Pete Kozma played in the Midwest League All-Star game last week. Kozma is in his second year in the Cardinals’ farm system and is hitting .324 this month.
“When you get a chance to play in something like that it shows that other people are seeing you develop and recognizing it,” he said. “It was a thrill to get to be around some of the guys drafted the same year as me and to see how they’re coming along.”
•Towles struggling: This time a year ago, Houston catching prospect J.R. Towles was a nearing his major league debut, during which he hit .375 with one homer in 40 at bats. Big things were expected as this season started, but Towles hit just .145 and was sent down June 6. He missed three of Round Rock’s four games with the RedHawks this week and is hitting .234.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit trying to get my mechanics in,” Towles said.
“I’m thinking about getting my swing down. When I get that down they told me they would be up there. I had a lot of different people telling me different things. Not that they were wrong, but it was kind of mental overload.”
The above article was originally posted here.
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