ALTOONA, Pa. — The mental game of Minor League Baseball is often overlooked when looking at prospects at even the highest of levels. The rigors of life on the road can lead to all sorts of mental gymnastics from being called up or sent down to the long, arduous bus rides through middle of nowhere towns across the country.
For Altoona closer Matt Eckelman, who was promoted to Class AAA Indianapolis earlier this season and subsequently sent back to Altoona, the mental aspect of the game was the biggest factor in his performance earlier this season.
A 21st-round pick of the Pirates in the 2016 draft, Eckelman failed to get an out during his time with Indianapolis, yielding four runs on four hits with three of those runs earned. Despite the lack of success, there was much to be learned for the right-handed reliever.
"Just trying to forget as much as possible what happened, but at the same time learning from what mistakes I had," Eckelman said.
His foray into Triple-A ball was a different beast from his usual game-day style as the Curve's closer. With the Indians, he wasn't the closer and was thrust into a situation he wasn't used to, which led to a lack of success. It was a role Eckelman wasn't accustomed to.
"It's a tough thing. He closes here and every game you close it's a a tight game," Altoona manager Michael Ryan said. "When he went to Triple-A, he threw in two games, maybe three that the score wasn't a close situation and he wasn't a closer. I think it was a good lesson for him he's gotta have the same mindset no matter the score, no matter what inning he's pitching in."
Eckelman, a 25-year-old St. Louis native, lasted only six days in Triple-A before he was returned to Altoona and a familiar role with the Curve, but the success didn't return immediately. The disappointment from not performing at a higher level in Indy coupled with the demotion is what makes the mental game of baseball the hardest to overcome.
"I thought I handled it well but I don't know if that had anything to do with what came after that," Eckelman said. "I came back down and struggled for a week or two and kind of got back in the groove of things."
While Eckelman is unsure of the impact the promotion and demotion had on his pitching, Ryan has his own thoughts on what led to the struggle to get back to normalcy for his closer.
"When he came back down, I think he was a little disappointed in his performance in Triple-A, and that takes a toll on you as well," Ryan said. "He's back to where he needs to be. We put him in a two-inning role earlier. He did very well with that because he had that mindset. We look for him to be that the rest of the time he's here."
Since back-to-back outings in May when Eckelman's ERA ballooned to 7.02, he's been able to lower his ERA to 4.74. In the eight games since, he's allowed only two hits, no earned runs and has recorded five saves.
"Every save that he would get early, the confidence just grew to where it's at. He had a couple of tough outings early on and now he's back to where he's got confidence and he believes in each pitch," Ryan said. "The conviction of each pitch he's throwing is there no. You can see the body language is different and he's expecting to put up a zero and that's what he's been doing."
Pitching at any level is an art and there's always going to be a learning process. For Eckelman, that learning process has included the ups and the downs.
"It's just the learning process and understanding hitters and how to attack at this level knowing what I can do to get guys out here," Eckelman said.
There's a mindset pitchers need as a closer or reliever for that matter and according to his manager, his head is right where it needs to be to have sustained success.
"Just a mindset," Ryan said. "He's got fastball, change up, breaking ball, splitty (split finger). Three really good pitches he can get over at any time and get strike one. He's got a great mindset for a closer with high velocity at times. He closed a lot of games for us last year, he's got experience doing it and that's what he's doing for us this year."
It's all about fine tuning for Eckelman as he uses the pitches he has to his advantage and trusts in his ability to get the job done.
"Right now, I think it's a lot of pitch location and pitch selection," Eckelman said. "Being able to utilize different parts of the zone with my fast ball, just trusting what I have to get guys out."
CURVE'S TOP HITTERS
Robbie Glendinning, 2B -- Since being called-up for his second stint with Altoona, Glendinning is hitting .333 with a home run and six RBIs.
Chris Sharpe, OF -- Sharpe, promoted from Bradenton Friday, hit .308 over the weekend as he hit his first Class AA home run, notched two RBIs and scored 5 runs.
CURVE'S TOP PITCHERS
Top starting performance: James Marvel vs. Harrisburg on June 19: 7.2 innings pitched, one run on four hits, nine strikeouts and no walks. Marvel is 7-5 with a 3.36 ERA.
Top reliever: Beau Sulser. On June 18, Sulser notched his fifth win of the season by throwing three innings of shut out baseball allowing only two hits, walking one and striking out one. Sulser, 23, lowered his ERA to 1.25.
ROSTER MOVES/INJURY UPDATE
Here are the latest roster moves:
6/18: LHP Blake Weiman promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis. LHP Brandon Waddell assigned to Altoona.
6/20: INF Hunter Owen promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis. OF Chris Sharpe promoted to Altoona. RHP Scooter Hightower assigned to Single-A Advanced Bradenton. RHP Tate Scioneaux reinstated from 7-day injured list, released from Altoona. RHP Vicente Campos released from Altoona.
6/22: RHP Jesus Liranzo assigned to Altoona.
THE RESULTS/SCHEDULE
Altoona ended the first half of the season on a winning note with a 3-1 win against Harrisburg and also started the second half on a winning note defeating the Senators by the same total.
The Curve currently sit at 2-2 entering play Monday evening defeating the aforementioned Harrisburg as well as Hartford this week while also falling to the Yard Goats twice.
Altoona, now two games back of division-leading Erie, will take on division foe Richmond for a three-game series before hosting Binghamton for five games beginning Thursday.
ALTOONA FUN THING
It's no secret that Peoples Natural Gas Field in Altoona is one of the finer ballparks to catch a game with a view unlike any other throughout the country. The Minor League Baseball world has taken notice as it was the home field for the Curve against Amarillo, Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, in Ballpark Digest's Double-A Best of the Ballpark Finals.
The finals ran through Sunday, June 23 and the results, which have yet to be finalized, can be found here.
