Sit Down With Pitching Coordinator Danny Clark

Rangers minor league pitching coordinator Danny Clark with star pupil Derek Holland in Clinton last year

Last fall after Rick Adair left the organization to become the pitching coach for the Seattle Mariners, the Texas Rangers entrusted one of the most coveted stables of young, high-end pitching prospects in baseball to Danny Clark, who was named the Rangers’ minor league pitching coordinator after two years as the pitching coach at Class-A Clinton and one with short-season Spokane.

Prior to joining the Rangers organization, Clark spent six years as the baseball coach at Milligan College, an NAIA program in Tennessee where he coached Mark Connor’s son Ryan. Connor arranged Clark’s interview with the Rangers back in 2006.

At different times last year, Adair, GM Jon Daniels and farm director Scott Servais had each told me that they thought Clark was a special coach with a big future, so it wasn’t tough to figure out who would be Adair’s replacement when he left the organization last November.

The man known as “DC” is an energetic, enthusiastic guy who is well liked throughout the organization and is regarded as an excellent communicator. He sat down with Inside Corner over the weekend for a long-ranging Q & A, touching on many of the system’s top pitching prospects.

Inside Corner: Tell us about Mike Kirkman’s turnaround. You were with him in Clinton last year when he seemed to finally get things pointed in the right direction, but he’s obviously taken it to another level this year.

DC: I’m more excited about Michael Kirkman than any pitcher we have right now from the standpoint of everything he’s gone through to get here. The command issues, injuries. He got sent back to extended a few times. Gotta give Keith Comstock a lot of credit for what’s happened with Mike for all the work they put in back in Surprise over the past couple of years.

The big thing about Mike is that he doesn’t back down. He’s a quiet competitor. He’s a country boy and doesn’t say a lot. He’s not going to go out and draw attention to himself, but you lead the Cal League in ERA and strikeouts and that gets you plenty of attention.

We’ve always seen the fastball velocity which is plus for a lefty starter — 92 to 94 — but he’s got total command of it right now with the plus breaking ball that he’s throwing for strikes. I’m a big Kirkman fan. Couldn’t be happier for him.

Inside Corner: Tell me about Michael Main. Certainly from his numbers — across the board — he’s not performing like people thought he would coming out of his outstanding performance at fall instructs.

DC: He just had to learn some lessons the hard way, but he’s starting to get it figured out. He wasn’t commanding his offspeed stuff and his fastball was up way too much. He thought that a thigh-high fastball was down in the zone and he’s learned otherwise. I think struggling a little might be a good thing for him in the long run. Opened his eyes a little bit. He’d never really had the experience of going through a period where he was getting beat up like that. I think it was a real wake-up for both him and Blake.

We’ve finally got Mike moved over to the third-base side of the rubber and that gives him a better angle on his fastball, especially to righties and gives him more room to drop his curve in the zone.

Inside Corner: I remember that there was an effort to move him over to the third-base side of the rubber last year and he resisted it.

DC: I wouldn’t say resisted. I think it just a matter of time before he figured out that it would be a benefit to him.

Inside Corner: Let’s talk about Blake Beavan. There’s been a lot of hand-wringing about his drop in velocity since turning pro.

DC: It’s fine. He was hitting 93 mph [Saturday] night. Remember, he’s just 20 years old.

I’m a big Blake Beavan fan. The thing he’s got that you just don’t see from many guys is total fastball command in the zone. Blake can get it over in any part of the zone he wants whenever he wants. We’re actually having him throw more 4-seamers and getting away from the 2-seamers for now to build some velocity back up and he’s learning he can succeed with that pitch. I’m not a guy who thinks that velocity is the be-all, end-all especially if you have the pitchability that Blake has.

I was there for his complete game and he got through all nine innings in 101 pitches. He just almost never gets out of the zone. Again [Saturday]: no walks and he got through seven in 98 pitches.

Insider Corner: Yoon-Hee Nam is a guy who seems to have come out of nowhere this year. Tell us about his stuff.

DC: Commands an 86-87 mph fastball well but the thing about Nam is he can really spin a curve that kids at that level don’t see very often and he commands that thing too. He’ll get some spot starts, but he’s probably going to stay in the bullpen.

Inside Corner: What are your thoughts on Kasey Kiker’s season so far?

DC: Pleased with his season. We need to see more consistent bite with the curveball, but to do as well as he’s done at this level is excellent. He’s another guy who isn’t afraid of anything and likes to compete.

Inside Corner: I was out here for what was probably his best start of the year and he hit every number on the gun from 77 to 94. Every one. I know that the 89-94 pitches were 4-seamers, the things in the 70’s were curves and the 82-84 mph pitches were changeups, but what is that thing he throws at 87-88 mph? We couldn’t figure out what that was supposed to be.

DC: Well, Kasey occasionally fools around with a 2-seamer when he thinks he needs a ground ball, but he’s not supposed to be throwing that pitch now. We had a visit about that. Sometimes his competitiveness on the mound leads to some things you’d rather not see.

Inside Corner: I’ve heard some good reports on Neil Ramirez coming out of Surprise. Is he close to an assignment?

DC: Yes he is. He went 3 innings, 59 pitches in extended [Saturday], so his pitch counts are getting close to putting him in position for an assignment. I’m told he’s working hard and has his body in shape. That’s the thing we’ve got now: more pitchers who need to be starting than we actually have room for. So many guys we still haven’t assigned. I’m glad Spokane will get going pretty soon.

Inside Corner: What’s the plan for Martin Perez? What good will it do for him to keep beating up on the Sally League?

DC: Well, that’s open for discussion. The big thing is to control his innings. We want him to come in around 110 this year. But he’s just a special player, ability-wise. He can put the fastball where he wants it, and it’s 94. He can drop the curve where he wants it and it‘s a plus pitch. His change is there now. He’s just on another level.

Inside Corner: And he’s got some swagger.

DC: Yeah, he does. Big league swagger.

Inside Corner: Fabio Castillo has made a start or two recently. Were those spot starts or is he going to be moving into the rotation?

DC: Spot starts. He profiles as a reliever. He’s really at his best in two-inning spurts and he’s had some trouble with his delivery that he does a better job of controlling in short work.

Inside Corner: I wanted to ask about Geuris Grullon. I saw him in Surprise and was really impressed. I thought he was a guy with a ton of ability.

DC: Good one. Yeah, he’s got great stuff. The thing about Geuris is that he’s so long that he’s had trouble with staying consistent in his delivery. You’d see him once and say, “wow” and then the next time you’d see him and go “eh” and then the next time it’s “wow” again. You obviously saw one of the “wow” days. But he’s becoming more consistent and he had a very good spring. The best he’s had. He’ll probably break with Spokane.

Inside Corner: Does his body type [about 6'4", 160 lbs] cause the organization to see him strictly as a reliever?

DC: No. Not me, anyway. He’s starting to fill out. With his stuff, I think he’s a starter.

Inside Corner: How is Wilfredo Boscan coming along?

DC: He’s actually scheduled to start on Thursday right now. He’s fine. We’ve just stayed on the cautious side with him.

Inside Corner: In talking to Rick Adair last year, I got the impression that the book on Wilfredo is that he has a plus approach and sort of ordinary stuff. What are your thoughts on his ceiling?

DC: Well, the fastball is 89 or so, but I think that Boscan commands everything so well to both sides of the plate that makes up for it. His upside is big because of that. It’s not all about velocity and he‘s still got some growing to do.

Inside Corner: Is there one guy we haven’t talked about already who you think has made a lot of progress this year?

DC: Joe Wieland. That really isn’t a secret, I guess. Commands all three pitches. He’ll show you sequences of pitches that you don’t see from a kid that age very often. Just an incredibly advanced approach. He’ll double up on the curve, double up on the change. A lot of guys when they get down 2-0 or have to throw a strike you know the fastball is coming. He can bring anything any time. He’s a guy I think you’ll see really take off this year.