Locke philosophical about career
BRADENTON, Fla. — Jeff Locke has reached an age and stage of his career where he has become somewhat philosophical.
“You kind of hit that point where you start thinking about things a little bit more,” the 28-year-old left-hander said at the Pirates’ spring training camp.
“You start thinking about how you had to battle your way up through the minor leagues just to get the big leagues, then how hard it is to stay up here once you get here. And, then you think about how difficult it is to be consistently successful once you get here because you are playing against the best players in the world.
“There is no higher league than this one.”
Indeed, there isn’t.
Locke has showed flashes of being able to master the major leagues. He was selected to the All-Star Game in 2013 after going 8-2 with a 2.15 ERA in 18 first-half starts.
However, he injured his back lifting weights just before the All-Star break and went 2-5 with a 6.12 ERA in 12 starts in the second half.
Since then, Locke made a combined 51 starts over the past two seasons, going 15-17 with a 4.23 ERA.
“I’ve been searching for that consistency for a long time now,” Locke said.
While the Pirates have qualified for the postseason in each of the last three seasons, Locke has been taken out of the rotation each September because of either injury or ineffectiveness.
In fact, there was speculation that the Pirates might to cut the ties with Locke this past offseason and not tender him a contract rather than go through a potential salary arbitration hearing. Instead, they decided to keep him despite an 8-11 record and 4.49 ERA in 30 starts last season, signing him to a one-year contract worth $3,025,000.
The Pirates are counting on Locke following a winter in which they lost three-fifths of their starting rotation. A.J. Burnett retired, lefty J.A. Happ signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent and Charlie Morton was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Locke and a pair of veteran newcomers — lefty Jon Niese and Ryan Vogelsong — will look to prop up the back end of the rotation behind ace Gerrit Cole and lefty Francisco Liriano.
“The Pirates have showed a lot of confidence in sticking with me and I really feel it’s time to repay them,” Locke said.
Locke got a head start on preparing for the season during the Pirates’ minicamp last month in Bradenton. He began making adjustments to his throwing mechanics under the tutelage of pitching coach Ray Searage.
“I feel really good about the changes we’ve made,” Locke said. “I feel like I’m a lot more consistent with the command of my pitches. The work we’ve done has helped a lot and I’m looking in a competitive situation, facing live hitters during the (exhibition) games and seeing the difference.”