Lakeland, Fla. — After every game this spring, Toledo pitching coach Doug Bochtler walks by the group of reporters waiting to talk to manager AJ Hinch shaking his head, saying, “Not today, not today.”
It’s a funny bit. And the joke, as Bochtler knows, is in the fact that assistant coaches, even Triple-A assistant coaches, are off limits to the media. But if we could talk to Bochtler, the former Padres’ reliever who spent a year with the Tigers in 1998, it would be nice to ask, among other things, what made him suggest that lefty Joey Wentz develop a cutter last season.
The pitch has changed the trajectory of Wentz’s career.
“Boch has been awesome for me,” Wentz said Wednesday.
Wentz, unofficially, is the sixth starter in the Tigers’ rotation right now. He would be in line to be part of the Tigers’ Opening Day roster if Michael Lorenzen’s left groin doesn’t heal quick enough. Even if his stat line doesn’t reflect it — he had one rough, five-run outing — he’s had a strong spring.
And a big part of that has been the continued effectiveness of the cutter.
“I’ve been getting quite a bit of swing-and-miss with it, some strikeouts with it,” he said. “Also, it’s a pitch I can get in the zone to get some contact and some efficient outs.”
Wentz began the 2022 season in Toledo and was fighting his command early, walking seven in his first 11 innings over three starts. The club was in Omaha when Bochtler pulled him aside.
“He was like, ‘We need something that can be a strike,’” Wentz said. “He suggested I try to throw a cutter. It wasn’t great right away, but it was good enough to throw in a game right away.”
It soon became a weapon. When he got back up with the Tigers in September, hitters went 4 for 26 with nine punch-outs against his cutter. The Tigers were 4-1 in his last five starts and Wentz limited hitters to a slash-line of .161/.255/.312 with 22 strikeouts.
He carried that into a three-start stint in the Arizona Fall League where he pitched 12 scoreless, two-hit innings with 14 strikeouts and four walks.
“Heading into the offseason, I knew it was going to be part of my game,” Wentz said. “From a mental standpoint, knowing it has to be a big pitch for me, I wanted to continue to work on it and bring it into spring. Getting the reps has been key.”
On March 10 against the Yankees at Joker Marchant, Wentz threw 28 cutters, getting eight misses on 16 swings with five called strikes. He’s been throwing it a little firmer this season, between 85-87 mph, up from 83-84 last season.
The pitch pairs well off both his 94-mph four-seam, which rides through the zone while the cutter breaks late into right-handed hitters, and with an improved curve ball, which has more downward movement.
“On the pitch side, I feel pretty happy with everything,” Wentz said. “On the throwing zeros side, I’m not thrilled with it. But the raw pitches have been pretty good. The cutter feels really good. The curveball feels good. That’s what I’m encouraged by.”
Wentz is 25 and been in pro ball since 2016 when the Braves took him in the first round out of Shawnee Mission East High Schoop in Prairie Village, Kansas. He’s endured a trade (to the Tigers for Shane Greene). He’s endured Tommy John surgery (2020) just as he was on the cusp of making his big-league debut.
He’s still technically a rookie, but, as oxymoronic as it sounds, he’s a seasoned rookie. He understands that his final spring start Thursday in Clearwater against the Phillies has some weight to it – given the uncertainty around Lorenzen.
But he also knows it’s not a gong-show audition. It’s not make-or-break.
“I feel pretty good,” Wentz said. “It’s later in camp now. Things will start taking shape. I’m just trying to have a good outing tomorrow and let the chips fall where they may. I think this team this year is looking really good. I think we’ve had an encouraging spring.
“It’s going to take more than 26 guys this year, either way. We have a lot of really good pitchers here, all across the board. So I’m just trying to focus on the things I can control.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky