Overholt looks to recapture success from a different angle 

For two months last season in Reading, right-hander Pat Overholt was arguably the best pitcher in the Philadelphia Phillies system.

Look at his numbers: He had allowed just two runs over his first 16 appearances for a ridiculous 0.87 ERA.

From April 17 to May 18 – 11 outings – the then-closer had thrown 13.2 scoreless innings.

He was blowing away hitters with a consistent 93-94 mph fastball, a sharp-breaking hard slider and an increasingly reliable changeup usually reserved for left-handers.

And then one morning Pat Overholt woke up, went to the yard, and fell into the first stages of pitching dementia – it seemed he forgot how to pitch.

On May 29 he was the proud owner of a 1.85 ERA. He had earned his 10th save four days earlier. He might have begun thinking about apartment hunting around Philly. Three appearances later his ERA had ballooned to 4.33. He would not earn another save.

It was all downhill from there. Overholt would finish his work in Reading with a 3-8 record, a 5.86 ERA and enough frustration to rival a Cubs fan.

Still, he was just 25 this spring, he possessed that great arm, and those two months in 2008 were not an optical illusion, so the Phillies didn’t give up on the former 22nd-round draft pick.

They decided to change his delivery from the traditional over-the-top arm slot to one that was more three-quarters at its apex. They also shortened his arm pass – the backward course of his throwing arm – because hitters apparently were getting too good a look at the ball as it traveled beyond his backside.

Not only that, but he was encouraged to convert from a four-seam to a two-seam fastball that would furnish less velocity but more control and movement.

And so the experiment began. Against experienced Double-A hitters. In a hitter-friendly home ballpark, where some nights, with the wind blowing hard to right, even Screwball might hit one out.

It was like trying to turn your dog into a vegetarian. It was like trying to negotiate a U-turn in a car wash. It was . . . well, you get the picture.

It would be nice to report that all has gone well for young Patrick. Not so, unfortunately. He has continued to struggle with this new approach to his craft. He calls it “peaks and valleys.”

The first two months of 2009 hardly resemble those relics from the past. Going into June he was lugging a 4.95 ERA in 20 appearances. He had 12 strikeouts, 10 walks and had surrendered four bombs in 20 innings of work.

Then, a few days ago in Bowie, something clicked. The old Pat from last spring showed up. He faced seven batters. He blew away five of them.

“I think I showed flashes of what I did the first half of last year,” Overholt said. “Last year there were times I was pretty dominant. I was a ninth-inning guy. This year it’s been learning on the run. (But) I’m getting more comfortable out there.

“The other night (in Bowie) was very positive for me to see all the hard work start to pay off. I know I’m going to have those nights when my command is not where I want it to be or the ball’s moving a little bit more than what I’m used to. But you keep going out there and try to prove yourself every time.”

Pitching coach Steve Schrenk talked about the Overholt conversion.

“We’re trying to drop him down right now, getting him a little lower and adding more deception to his delivery,” he said. “He had a real long arm pass and the hitters we talked to said they were seeing the ball a real long time. He was hittable at times. His command wasn’t there either.

“His slider is about the same, but his fastball movement is much better. We’re getting a lot more bad swings right now, but we’re doing this at the Double-A level, so it’s hard (on him). He’s made the adjustment pretty well. He’s had good games and bad games. Obviously his last game (in Bowie) was outstanding.

“He wasn’t trying to do too much. He was letting the ball work for him; he was throwing his slider for strikes. It’s coming around; it’s a work in progress. It’s not going to happen overnight; he knows that. He’s adapting well, but it’s not something that’s easy to do at this level.”

The key for Overholt is to trust his mechanics, repeat his delivery, get ahead in the count and have confidence in his new-found ability to throw ground balls.

“I think the Phillies have been very good to me,” Overholt said. “They’ve stuck with me. I think I’ve been lucky to be with the organization. Starting out this year, I didn’t know exactly what I was going to get every night. Schrenk and Roadie (manager Steve Roadcap) have been real good about working with me, not putting me in key situations. Now I think I’m at a point where I can come into a game like that, hold a lead and get a ground ball, because I know a little more what my pitches are going to do.”

The second half of last year, Overholt was as confused as anyone about his sudden collapse. Certainly, he carried more frustration than anyone else.

“It was a true test,” he remembered. “It was like a hitter going from .350 to .250 all of a sudden. They’re trying to find their swing and maybe they over-analyze a little bit. You go from being really good in this league, and you think you’re about to make an impact at another level, and then you’re not getting the job done and doing what you’re capable of. It was very frustrating.

“I haven’t lost confidence in myself. You do get down on yourself, but the best advice I ever got as a reliever is to have a short-term memory and come to the field the next day with a clean slate. You have to say, ‘If I get in there it’s a complete new game, and what’s happened in the past is going to stay in the past.’ ”

Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was addressing the media the other night after his club’s fourth straight dismal loss: “This is a game that just because you did it yesterday, you’re not going to do it today; just because you did it last year, you’re not going to do it this year.”

Good advice, but Pat Overholt just wants to do it tomorrow. That is his next test. The pupil is willing. The teachers are patient. The curriculum is difficult. He may pass; he may fail.

The lesson continues. 

This story was posted on June 12, 2009