Nats, Detwiler Seek a Prompt Delivery

By Steve Yanda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Ross Detwiler's left hand was tired, having repeated the same motion over and over on a recent afternoon. As the Washington Nationals' 2007 first-round draft pick, he had grown accustomed to having spectators' eyes zeroed in on him, but they had never been this close, this personal, before.

"Will you put the date on it?" asked a man in a white Nationals jersey and red team cap after Detwiler had autographed his baseball.

"Sure," Detwiler responded.

"I have a plan for this ball," the man said.

"Really?" Detwiler said, nonchalantly.

"I'm going to give it back to you," the man replied, "when you're in the Hall of Fame."

The man was just one of the 50 or so fans who waited in line outside Five Guys restaurant in Woodbridge for the 21-year-old southpaw's signature, yet he accurately captured the sentiment surrounding the young pitcher. Hurry up, Ross. We're waiting.

It is the message Detwiler has received since the day he signed his first professional contract -- from his bosses, from his future teammates, from fans. Detwiler has done his best to keep up with the rapid pace set for him by those who control his future, but his laid-back persona and childish grin act as a reminder that he is not far removed from the relatively carefree days of his youth.

Detwiler knows everyone else is ready for him to ascend to the big leagues and become the staff ace that scouts expect him to become. But he also knows he has to be ready before all the rest of that stuff can take place.

Flanked by former Washington Nationals first-round draft picks who had advanced to the major leagues the same season they were selected, Detwiler took a seat behind a rectangular table at RFK Stadium on July 6 and signed a contract that included a $2.15 million signing bonus.

During the news conference, closer Chad Cordero -- drafted and called up in 2003 -- mentioned how good it was to see Detwiler sign so quickly, telling the sixth overall choice in the 2007 draft that "this is where you want to be."

General Manager Jim Bowden spoke of the advanced track on which Detwiler would be placed: two or three starts for the Gulf Coast League Nationals, the same at Class A Potomac and a stay in Class AA Harrisburg in August, leaving the door open for a September call-up to the big league club.

Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman -- drafted and called up in 2005 -- pointed out how he had been in Detwiler's shoes before. "Jim [Bowden] is not making anything up," Zimmerman said. "If you work hard and do what you need to do to get here, he's not afraid to call you up and let you do it here."

Since then, Detwiler has strived to meet the expectations placed on his shoulders. He spent the rest of July in Viera, Fla., where he got his arm back into shape after not pitching since May 23. In four starts for the GCL Nationals, Detwiler threw 12 innings, compiling a 2.25 ERA with 15 strikeouts and three walks.

He did not allow a run in three of his four outings for the rookie league team and made an impression on those who monitored his progress first-hand. "He is a professional pitcher on the mound," said Franklin Bravo, the pitching coach for the GCL Nationals. "He knows how to locate his pitches. When he wants to throw his curveball for a strike, he throws it for a strike. When he wants to throw it down in the dirt, he throws it down in the dirt."

But Bravo said he also noticed Detwiler occasionally would drop his arm angle when throwing his change-up and breaking ball, something the lefty soon will need to address. Detwiler concurred, stating that sometimes he tries to get too much out of the two pitches instead of just letting them work. The result is a flat curveball and an ineffective change-up.

"Sometimes, he changes his arm angle to throw those pitches and gets underneath it," Bravo said. "Sometimes, he tries to make those pitches perfect pitches."

That observation points more to Detwiler's mind-set than it does to a flaw in his pitching motion. Told the Nationals would like to see him on the mound in a major league ballpark before the season ends, Detwiler sometimes departs from his normally fluid delivery and resorts to grinding.

The youngest of three Detwiler boys, Ross grew used to keeping up with older, more experienced players when he was a 5-year-old bat boy for big brother Wes's American Legion team in Wentzville, Mo. Ross would go into the outfield with Wes and the other players before games and try to catch the balls the older kids were tossing into the air. "I think I caught most of them," Ross said.

Soon, though, Ross was the one doing the throwing. He was a good pitcher in Little League, even better in high school but did not hit radar screens of scouts around the country until his sophomore year at Missouri State. That year Detwiler went 7-4 with a 2.81 ERA and tossed a one-hitter against Creighton in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. The following summer, he was invited to pitch in the Cape Cod League and was selected for Team USA.

Detwiler said he remembers his first collegiate outing, pitching in relief against then-No. 3 Rice in 2005. "I did decent; kind of like last night," he said, referring to his Class A debut Friday against the Winston-Salem Warthogs. Detwiler lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits with two strikeouts, no walks and a hit batsman.

After the game, Detwiler chastised himself for leaving the ball up in the strike zone. The following morning, he got a call from his father, Rick, emphasizing the same thing. Rick had listened to the game from Wentzville over the radio, and while he admittedly has no claim to expertise when it comes to pitching, he has seen his youngest son throw enough to know what is going on based on a description. When the announcer kept reporting fly balls to all parts of the outfield, Rick knew Ross was throwing the ball high. "He usually gets strikeouts or groundouts," Rick said.

That's the thing about the Detwiler family, Ross said -- everything revolves around baseball, from sitting in front of the TV as a kid watching St. Louis Cardinals games late into the night to playing Little League on teams his dad coached. When he says this, the innocence of the adolescent fan inside him reveals itself through the cheek-bunching grin on his face.

Detwiler is such a Cardinals fan, he claims he can name every member of any St. Louis starting lineup in recent memory. When put to the test and asked to name the lineup for the 1998 squad, Detwiler begins ticking off the names: "Behind the plate was Tom Pagnozzi. Ray Lankford, Ron Gant and Brian Jordan were in the outfield. Royce Clayton was at short. Gary Gaetti was at third. [Mark] McGwire was at first."

And then he stopped, the puzzle still one piece from completion. "Who was at second base?" Detwiler pondered. "I know it was after Rex Hudler. I can't think of it."

So what if the young lefty did not know Delino DeShields started at second base for the Cardinals in '98. For a few brief seconds, the kid was caught up in the game, toiling for the meaningless random facts that all sports fanatics memorize at a young age and then gradually lose sight of as the pressing responsibilities of adulthood mount.

The Nationals maintain they will not rush Detwiler to the big leagues before he is ready, but the message remains that expectations are high for the team's most recent first-round draft pick.

Right now, the organization just wants to start the experience process. "We don't know how far advanced he is, and we won't know until he competes in the month of August," said Spin Williams, the Nationals minor league pitching coordinator. "The bottom line is to get his feet wet and see where he is from our standpoint and his standpoint."

Though Detwiler is well aware of all the hype that surrounds him, he does his best to focus solely on his pitching. "I try not to read too much into it," he said. "You can get into trouble if you get caught up in it. If you look too far ahead, you get too caught up and lose focus on what needs to happen."

What will happen next is another start for Class A Potomac tomorrow. Rest assured, Rick Detwiler will be listening from afar via radio broadcast, sifting through the announcer's descriptions for clues as to how his son is performing.

"I certainly don't want to see him put in a situation where he's in over his head and his confidence is destroyed," Rick said. "But I want him to be happy, and I want him to succeed. It's a fine line."