Jason Motte has a God-given talent that would make even some major league pitchers jealous. Some guys never had it, some developed it and lost it, and a rare few have molded the same ability Motte possesses into something that makes them stand out -- even amongst all-stars. At a relatively young age, Motte has mastered the ability to make adjustments.
Not only that, but he has one hell of an arm.
Motte, 23, is older than most of his teammates who are fresh out of college or high school. He already has more professional baseball experience than most of his colleagues, but at his position, he's way behind. Still, Motte's Triple-A coach Ron "Pop" Warner said it's possible that he might see Motte back at the elite minor league level as early as the end of this year.
Motte thinks it's possible, too, and is proving it with his condition and an untraditional OCD -- an obsessive, compulsive desire -- to reach the major leagues.
Motte had been a catcher since he was young. He couldn't fathom doing anything other than crouching behind the plate, studying each batter, and coaching his pitcher to throw the perfect ball in every situation, like a chess mentor teaches his pupil to out-think his opponents by anticipating their next moves. Not only that, but Motte was a standout defensive catcher after years of gritting it out behind the plate.
In January, Motte met with Warner and his coaching staff to discuss his potential future in baseball. Warner told Motte a year earlier that if his hitting didn't improve, he would have to reconsider his options in minor league play.
But Motte's hitting didn't improve -- he still has a .188 career average. He continued to struggle, and Warner gave him an ultimatum: Either go back to Single-A ball and try to master the art of pitching or risk being cut from the organization.
Warner and his staff first toyed with the idea of Motte pitching after watching him horse around with pitchers during pre-game warm-ups. Motte's ability to reach 90 mph on the speed gun -- while flat-footed -- was a sure indicator that he had the arm strength to pitch at a professional level.
"We could tell mechanically he had a pretty good idea of what a pitcher should do," Warner said.
In high school, Warner had played against former Anaheim Angels and Detroit Tigers closer Troy Percival. Like Motte, Percival went through his entire high school and college careers as a catcher before his minor league coaches forced him to transition to a pitcher. Warner said that type of transition was not an easy one to make successfully, and the decision to ask Motte to change was also not an easy one.
"He was a heck of a catcher," Warner said. "Good catching is so hard to come by."
Even though it was a tough decision for Motte to make, he realized it was his only shot at fulfilling his dream of becoming a professional baseball player.
"They kinda made the decision for me," Motte said. "It was like, 'Hey we're gonna have you pitch. How do you feel about that?' I was like, 'Well it's basically that or go home so, I mean, I'd rather be in a uniform and get to play.' "
Motte got to work quickly in May, throwing his first pitches off the mound since Little League. Spikes pitching coach Sid Monge had Motte work on his fastball and slider from the beginning of his workout sessions. In extended spring training in Jupiter, Fla., Motte reached a maximum velocity of 95 mph and did an excellent job of throwing strikes.
Monge said that Motte made "very accelerated" progress during the spring and he was very impressed by Motte's demeanor. The coaching staff was so impressed that after only a few weeks work, Motte had earned the job as the Spikes first-ever closer by the beginning of the season because of his fastball and his ability to adjust to situations while maintaining his cool on the mound.
"Considering he just started pitching one month ago and he's already into the role of setting up and closing. That's pretty impressive," Monge said. "I'm surprised how quickly he made the transition. It usually doesn't happen this quickly.
"This is no easy pickings, you know... When you have to make a pitch and it makes all the difference in the world -- win or loss, hold or save -- that's pretty impressive."
Motte struggled through his relief appearances, saving his first two games but losing in his next two appearances as he gave up 12 hits and three walks for three earned runs in nine innings of work.
Monge said that Motte's stuff was there, but he hadn't mastered his pitches and sometimes ran too many hittable pitches across the plate. Motte said himself that he would get nervous at times and shy away from his slider because it wasn't yet perfected.
"The slider, I'm still trying to figure that out," Motte said. "Every now and then I'll just flip one up there, and it's pretty bad. I'm trying to figure that one out a little bit more. It's mainly just fastballs trying to get ahead of guys and once I get ahead, I end up with my slider and my off-speed stuff."
Manager Mark DeJohn noticed Motte felt a little uncomfortable with his pitches and decided to give him a break, easing him back to the less demanding position of set-up man, while promoting P.J. Walters to closer. He realized the pressure of closing was not ideal for a player just learning the difference between pitching and throwing.
"We put him in that closer's role basically because he's the guy that we knew, and I knew that he wouldn't scare, and that's the biggest thing," DeJohn said. "What I saw was, it was a spot where he was OK in, but at the same time, he's still learning to be a pitcher.
"I just wanted to stick him in there early, and hopefully he took off with it. But I saw after a while that maybe that was a mistake on my part, and that wasn't fair to him."
Transitioning from catcher to pitcher has had its shades of gray for Motte.
While being at a disadvantage in experience, he has a technical edge over some of his pitching counterparts that have not had the experience of working with catchers who have learned the art of calling their own game.
"If I saw a guy foul a fastball and he's late on it, I'm not gonna sit there and throw him a curveball and let him get the head out" Motte said. "If I see a guy swing, I know what to look for and what to do in a guy's swing -- especially with these catchers. A lot of these guys are young and come from colleges where they had the coaches calling the pitches. That's how I was."
Instead of taking it as a blow to his confidence, Motte has responded with a fearless attack at mastering his new position as well as an uncanny ability to keep things loose in the clubhouse.
"You're supposed to have a game face all the time and he seems to," Monge said. "He's got a lot of energy and he's channeling it in the right direction."
