Here’s why Heaney threw Betts a middle-middle fastball
SURPRISE, Ariz. — In his first Cactus League begin as a Ranger on Wednesday, Andrew Heaney instantly discovered himself in a 2-0 depend towards former teammate Mookie Betts.
Heaney then tossed a middle-middle fastball, hoping for a straightforward strike. But that’s by no means secure towards a hitter like Betts, who launched it deep over the left-center-field wall at Surprise Stadium.
“I was like, ‘I really just want to see a strike,’” Heaney mentioned. “I don’t want to start my first game of Spring Training going 3-0 on a guy or nibbling. So I was like, ‘I’m just gonna kind of throw it at him down the middle.’ And he hit it out. It’s not surprising. I’m not all that mad about it. I’m a little stubborn in that way. Just like I wanted to see one in there. It happens. I’m not going to worry about it.”
Heaney added that, within the common season, he most likely wouldn’t have thrown that pitch in that scenario.
In the 4-2 rain-shortened loss to the Dodgers, Heaney — who signed a two-year, $25 million cope with Texas this offseason — pitched 1 2/3 innings, permitting three hits, two walks and two earned runs, each of which got here on solo homers. He additionally struck out two.
Heaney mentioned he felt nice in his bullpen pregame, however issues simply bought away from him on the mound as soon as the sport began.
“Physically, I felt good, mechanics felt pretty good,” said Heaney. “The first inning was all right, and then the second inning, I just sort of lost it a little bit. I was trying to mix in more changeups and it was not carrying up in the zone very well. So that kind of got me behind in counts. I’m a little disappointed in that, because I definitely pride myself on attacking the strike zone and I’m living with the results. I was a little bit frustrated with falling behind, but at the same time, it’s the first Spring Training start, I feel good.”
The 31-year-old southpaw felt optimistic about his outing, even when the numbers didn’t precisely again that up.
Heaney joked that he’s most likely “one of the worst Spring Training pitchers out there,” however the course of and the way he feels out on the mound issues greater than the outcomes, particularly when it’s so early in camp.
“To some extent, I would rather be giving up hits than going [2-0] or [3-0] on a guy,” Heaney mentioned. “I really don’t want to say I don’t care, because I do care. I’d rather get people out, that’s the name of the game, but I’m going to take more pride in Spring Training in attacking guys. I didn’t do that and that’s what bothers me. Like, not getting out of innings, getting too long … that’s what bothers me more about it.”
Manager Bruce Bochy felt equally about Heaney’s outing, noting that the early days of camp are about staying wholesome and getting your work in.
Heaney, like a lot of the Rangers’ rotation, is coming off an injury-riddled 2022, when he made a number of journeys to the injured checklist with left shoulder issues. Despite the accidents, Heaney dominated when wholesome, ending with private bests in ERA (3.10), WHIP (1.09), Okay/9 (13.6) and Okay/BB ratio (5.79) for the Dodgers.
“Overall, I thought Heaney threw the ball pretty good,” Bochy mentioned. “I know he made a couple of mistakes, got behind and they went after him, but it was a good first outing for him. I thought he used his offspeed pitches well, which was the plan. I’m just glad we got our work in today [before the rain].”
