Alex Rodriguez approached Boone Logan with purpose in Cincinnati.
His message? Have a game plan and stick to it.
Boone Logan
Relief Pitcher
New York Yankees
Logan was coming off a one-pitch appearance on Monday night -- he hit Joey Votto -- when Rodriguez told the only left-hander in the Yankees’ bullpen to get his act together and rediscover what made him successful for the club last season.
“He wanted to know if I had a game plan,” said Logan, who has thrown 2 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out four in his three appearances since his pep-talk with A-Rod. “He kind of took what he does as a hitter, and kind of turned it into a pitching deal. He asked me if I had a game plan. I said, ‘Yeah, I have a game plan.’ And he said, ‘You gotta execute your game plan, whatever it is, even if you give up a hit or a walk, if you have a game plan stick to it.’
“It was just a pick me up to hear it from him. He’s got a lot of experience in this game. It’s an honor.”
Aside from rediscovering his game plan, Logan also rediscovered his arm slot, dropping it down so as to get more “on top of the ball.”
Backwards logic? Absolutely.
But it’s worked for Logan, who says he’s having fun on the mound again.
“I was trying to stick to where I was at last year, and at the beginning of this year,” Logan said. “It’s not a huge difference, but just dropping it down a bit, it takes a little pressure off the shoulder.”
Logan dropped his arm angle after having success with it while messing around during a bullpen session.
“We talked about it about a month ago and played around with it, and then it was about a week ago he came in in Cincinnati and dropped down a lot bit, and hitters just don’t pick it up,” pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. “The pitch is better, so he’s gone with it.
“You can see left-handers aren’t pick him up nearly as well.”
With Damaso Marte, Pedro Feliciano out, Logan is the only southpaw left in the ‘pen -- so he has to keep it up.
If these last three appearances are any indication of what’s to come, he will.