DAVID PHELPS: KEEPING AN EYE ON THE BALL

With Spring training in full swing, it is easy to read the sensational headlines and catch the dramatic soundbites from veteran and rookie stars and make a good inference about what kind of team we will have this upcoming season or what’s trending at the ballpark.  But sometimes the story is in between the lines and after the sound clip.   David Phelps is a young pitcher who doesn’t get enough of either.  But he does get credit, at least from us at BYB, for being articulate, mature, accountable, grounded and focused on the important role he will take on this season. 

"My job is to go out there and get guys out, regardless of my role. I haven't changed the way I approach the season anyway, I'm just going out there and trying to get on a roll, throw strikes. Regardless of my role, that's how I'm going to approach it,” stated Phelps in an interview with MLB.com. 

The 27-year-old right-hander from the University of Notre Dame, has a 4.11 Career ERA and 175 strike outs.  He is focused on throwing strikes and winning ball games.  He reflected on his last two seasons, and particularly on one play he wished he could have back.  Phelps was pitching in the 12th inning of the 2012 ALCS game when he gave up a grounder to Jhonny Peralta. I think all fans remember, perhaps even in slow motion, Derek Jeter, diving for the ball, rolling over his ankle.  This is a clip that will live in infamy and for Phelps; it’s grounder he wants back. 

“That’s a clip that gets played a lot. And when I see the ground ball roll towards him, I’m like, ‘That was my ground ball,’ ” Phelps said. “I really want him to get back, I want him to have success  again, because I don’t want that to be the last thing people remember,” Phelps said in an interview with WFAN on Friday.  The fact that he takes ownership for every pitch, every play, just shows you the maturity level, the passion-filled player, we have in Phelps.

In his first Grapefruit League start of the spring, Phelps gave up two hits, one a solo homerun.  But the story within the story is that he threw 30 pitches, 20 of them were strikes.  Phelps is competing for a slot in the starting rotation.  Among his competitors for this position are Michael Pineda, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno. Yet the story behind the story is that Phelps is confident that he will be effective in any role the Yankee skipper chooses for him to play.  Guys like Phelps just want to play and play to win.  And guys like Phelps are the story.  That’s where our focus should be- on guys who want to win, on and off the field, through the mindset they set for themselves and the straight talk they give us in interviews, even when the microphone is turned off. 

Keep a closer eye on David Phelps, fans.  Don’t lose sight of the real story behind the headlines.  There will be a lot of them this season, if you just pay attention and keep your eye on the ball.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof



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