The Futility Infielder

Sometime last fall, I began noticing a poster on Baseball Primer who used the pseudonym "Chad Bradford Wannabe." The name spoke volumes; through his occasional posts, I gradually learned that he was a sidearm-throwing minor-league pitcher in the independent Northeast League, and a student of the game who had taken Moneyball to heart. In November, we crossed paths for the first time when he solicited advice for gauging the level of Northeast League competition. He'd already done what I suggested -- email the guys at Baseball Prospectus -- which impressed me enough that I told him, "A cybersavvy submariner who's hip to EqA, Primer and Prospectus can play for my team any day."

Since then, I've kept intermittent tabs on CBW as he's discussed various aspects of the game on Primer, intrigued by the fact that amid all of the Curt Schilling-Sons of Sam Horn hype, here was another ballplayer, albeit a semi-anonymous, unheralded one, who was interacting with fans via the Internet. My wheels started turning; I sensed a story. Drawing upon various posts of his, I began piecing together his identity, only to find that he'd already revealed himself as Carlos Gomez, late of the Allentown Ambassadors of the Northeast League.

But the Primer thread where he'd unmasked himself revealed even more. While playing winter ball in Puerto Rico, a teammate of Gomez told him of a study done by pitching coach Dave Duncan on first-pitch strikes, namely that at the major-league level, only 8% of them result in base hits. Gomez confirmed this with some research of his own, and posted his work to Primer, sparking an intriguing exchange. Even more intriguing was his declaration that he had put this data to work for him on the mound, combining it with what he knew as the inherent advantage of being a sidearming reliever -- the desire of batters who've been facing overhand pitching all game long to take his first pitch in order to adjust -- to stay ahead of hitters.

After reading this, I was determined to interview Gomez, but didn't have an email address to contact him. Attempting to be discreet in my intentions, I made a few open pleas on Primer for him to contact me, which he did about a week later. We finally chatted a few weeks ago, our conversation running nearly an hour. Gomez is an engaging interview subject who loves to talk about where he's been and what he's learned, and who has a sense of humor about the ups and downs he's experienced in the game. He's a ballplayer, but he's a fan as well, one who'd likely be right at home in the blogosphere if he weren't playing.

For that matter, it's just short of a miracle that he is playing. Gomez had arm trouble during his Puerto Rican high school career and became an off-speed pitcher, then developed Rick Ankiel-style control problems in college at Purdue. One look at his college stats (a 9.26 ERA) and you wouldn't give him any shot at pro ball. But while waiting to put his engineering degree to work, Gomez began sidearming, put his control woes behind him, and pitched his way into a pair of indie-league contracts. Last year he led his Allentown team with 36 appearances, posting a 3.23 ERA in 47.1 innings. He's still a long way from the big leagues, but it's not hard to imagine that with another good season, the 26-year-old could garner a contract with an affiliated team and get a real shot to move up the chain.

I'm pleased to announce that our interview has been published today as a Baseball Prospectus Q & A, my third piece for BP. It's a premium piece, meaning that you have to have a subscription to read it. I'll excerpt my intro:

Carlos Gomez is a work in progress. At 26 years old, the Puerto Rico native has only 60 innings of professional ball under his belt in baseball backwaters such as Canton, Ohio and Allentown, Pa. With a high school career hampered by injury and a college career marred by ineffectiveness and then a bout of "Ankielitis," envisioning any kind of professional career at all for Gomez seemed a stretch. But persistence and a willingness to experiment have allowed Gomez to cast off his pitching woes and remake himself as a sidearming reliever, and intellectual curiosity has spurred him to incorporate objective research into his pitching approach. His is the story of Moneyball writ small, one player searching for any advantage he can get in order to rise through the professional ranks.

Traveling under the handle "Chad Bradford Wannabe," Gomez began posting to Baseball Primer last fall. Our first encounter found him searching for a way to gauge the level of his independent-league competition using Equivalent Average, a query which brought him to the attention of Baseball Prospectus' writers. Since then, he's become a popular member of the online baseball community, chiming in several times this past off-season on his experiences playing winter ball, his own research, and his evolving approach to the game. Gomez is slated to pitch for the New Jersey Jackals of the Northeast League this year.

It's a long piece even by BP Q & A standards, but so far as I can tell, only one of our exchanges got cut. Though it wasn't really a question, it captured the tenor of the interview rather well, so I'll include it here as an outtake:

BP: A lot of the Prospectus writing and the performance analysis stuff is geared towards the fans and towards front office guys. It's fascinating to hear about a player who's taking that stuff back out there on the mound. Going back to the whole Moneyball thing and the similarity with Chad Bradford, you are a guy who is taking whatever is going to give you an edge, whether it's changing your arm angle or consuming research and applying it to your situation.

Gomez: I have a big smile on my face right now, Jay, because you nailed it. It's whatever it takes to get outs, it really is.

I'll be keeping tabs on Gomez as the year goes on, and hopefully will even make the trek out to Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, New Jersey to watch him pitch, assuming some astute GM hasn't snapped him up already.

Update: Both the interview and this entry were Clutch Hits on Baseball Primer. Here's the discussion thread.

Labels: Carlos Gomez