Lefty Aaron Laffey happy to help the Tribe in any role
By Kevin Lynch
April 12, 2010
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Aaron Laffey, the 24-year-old southpaw was disappointed he was bumped from the starting rotation, but if his role on the Indians roster this season is to work out of the bullpen for now, he is happy with that. Most of all, he is happy to be in the big leagues.
Im not a No. 1 starter. Im not naïve. Do I think I can be a contributing member every season in the starting rotation? Absolutely. I have confidence in myself and my abilities to pitch in the big leagues, and to be successful, Laffey said. You have to have that confidence in yourself. Every day youre going out there against the best players in the world.
You never think of it as, Wow, Im here. You are one of the best yourself, he continued.
Laffey was in competition this spring for one of the five starting pitcher positions, but lost out to David Huff and Mitch Talbot for the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation.
I did a couple things differently this year than I normally would to prepare for this year, Laffey said. Historically, ever since Ive been drafted (June, 2003), Ive had terrible spring trainings. I wouldnt pitch well until the last start.
That wasnt the case this spring for the young lefty who turns 25 on Thursday, April 15.
Throwing bullpens with a batter in the box, as opposed to no one standing in there, Laffey said. We have those dummy hitters, which help you get a feeling theres actually someone standing in the box. That helps me get the visual of the hitter being in there, being able to throw the ball inside to a right-handed hitter or off the plate away to a righty as well. This helped take care of some of the walks problems I had last year.
In 121 innings work last year, he walked 57 batters while striking out, both out of the bullpen and as a starter.
He relished being in the starting rotation, but he is glad to be part of the Indians team and is willing to do whatever he can to help the team win.
Every day you do the work, in between starts to be prepared for that fifth day, which is your fun day, Laffey said. Thats the day you get to go out and play. The other days in between starts, you should be doing everything possible to be prepared for your next start. Obviously, it doesnt always work out the way you want it, but you dont want to be out there kicking yourself because you werent prepared.
As a reliever, you have to be ready to pitch every day, he continued. Its a lot different approach.
As far as what pitcher he models himself after, Laffey likens his style to veteran Chicago lefty Mark Buehrle, who handcuffed the Indians in the season opener.
There are definitely guys you pay more attention to, how certain guys attack certain hitters. I really like to watch Mark Buehrle pitch, Laffey said. The way he attacks lineups, and how on a game-to-game basis, you never see him face a team the same way twice. One game hell throw change up after change up after change up, then the next time you see him pitch, he wont throw a change up for three innings.
Hes a cutter, change-up guy, and Im a sinker, slider guy, but our stuff kind of plays out the same way. He gets a lot of balls on the ground. The way he uses his change up in different counts is definitely something I watch, because Im trying to make that my go to pitch this year. I used it a lot more than normal last year. Just to gain the confidence to be able to throw it at any time in the count is important.
Laffey was brought into the season opener with the bases loaded and nobody out. He induced a ground ball double play and got out of the inning allowing the runner on third to score. That run was charged to Jake Westbrook.
Laffey said there are certain teams and hitters that give him a hard time.
Nobody likes to face Texas, Laffey said with a laugh. Last year, we faced Texas and Anaheim and at one point every guy in their lineup was batting .300 or better.
