By ERIC G. STARK, Sports Writer
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They've evolved from throwers to pitchers.
Starting hurlers Joe Savery and Kyle Drabek are having success for the Class AA Reading Phils. Both are knocking on the door of their parent club, the Philadelphia Phillies.
Savery, 23, a left-hander drafted in the first round (19th overall) in 2007, leads the Eastern League with 10 wins (10-1 overall) and ranks fourth with 84.2 innings pitched. The Rice University product has not lost since April 16. He was selected as an Eastern League All-Star. Savery doesn't have electrifying stuff (3.08 ERA), but he battles and keeps his team in games.
Drabek, 21, a right-hander drafted in the first round (18th overall) in 2006, improved his record Wednesday to 8-1 with a 2.46 ERA in 15 games with Reading and Class A Clearwater. He's 5-0 with a 2.72 ERA at Reading.
Savery said he felt tired last season, struggling to a 9-10 mark at Clearwater with a 4.13 ERA. The key to his improvement, he said, was not dwelling on things he couldn't control. He had to learn to take his foot off the gas.
"One day you just have to wake up and say, 'You know what ... I can still get guys out, but I've got to learn to go with what I've got,'" he said. "Once I quit hoping for what I once had to come back, and just started dealing with what I had, it kind of turned the tables a little bit."
Drabek, who had elbow surgery in 2007, pitched only sparingly last season. He made eight starts for the Gulf Coast (Rookie) League Phils and Class A Williamsport, holding opponents to a .156 batting average.
He said it was during his rehabilitation that he figured things out as a pitcher, while rooming with teammate Mike Zagurski, who played sparingly for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2007. Watching baseball games on TV, Zagurski asked him what he'd throw in certain situations. Drabek said he never really thought about it and usually just reared back and threw it.
"I think doing that stuff made me think more about pitching than anything else," said Drabek, who has held right-handed batters to a .115 average (3-for-26) at Reading.
Drabek's fastball tops out at 96 mph, and he mixes in a curveball. He said he's working on his change-up during bullpen sessions.
Improving his motion and hitting his spots has helped Drabek, but keeping his emotions in check is a key this year. He used to get mad if he gave up a home run; now he understands it's going to happen.
Drabek calls his parents after each start. His father, Doug, a former big-league pitcher and Cy Young Award winner, gives him advice. Wednesday's tip was to stay calm when he's getting hit around.
Both pitchers said they must keep themselves in the moment and not think too far ahead.
"The more you are around this game, the more you realize how little you control these decisions on who is getting moved up," Savery said. "You look at the Phillies organization and talk about getting moved up to Triple A or something like that, and there's just prospects everywhere. Sometimes there is just not a decision to be made because of the players they have and the depth they have in this organization."
Eric G. Stark is a Sunday News sports writer. E-mail him at estark@lnpnews.com.
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