Ex-Hog keeps it down, on way up with Twins

Going into last year’s Major League Baseball draft, former Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher DJ Baxendale was projected to be taken in the second or third round.

He fell to the 10th round, where the Jacksonville native was selected by the Minnesota Twins.

It’s starting to look like the Twins found a bargain.

Baxendale started the season with the Fort Myers (Fla.) Miracle, the Twins’ Class A advanced team, where he went 7-0 with a 1.10 ERA. In 571/3 innings over nine starts, Baxendale had 48 strikeouts while allowing only 11 walks. His 0.77 WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) led the Florida State League, and hitters batted just .171 against him.

Now he’ll find out if he can continue that type of success in Class AA after the Twins promoted him Sunday to the New Britain (Conn.) Rock Cats.

“I always demand success from myself, always feel like I should go out and pitch well enough for the team to get a victory. So, kind of in a way, I had expected to throw this well,” said Baxendale, who was named the Twins’ minor league pitcher of the month for April and the Florida State League’s pitcher of the week for May 6-12. “But to actually go out and throw like I have, it probably would not have been realistic to say that I expected that in my head.”

Baxendale attributed his success to his work with Fort Myers pitching coach Ivan Artaega.

“He’s been helping me stay closed, which will help me be able to locate the ball,” Baxendale said. “It’s just to keep me crisp and help my delivery be very slow and easy.”

Artaega said Baxendale has a unique was of pitching, with a lot of movement on his fastball at the knees.

“We’re trying to get him to throw the ball down [in the strike zone] because it’s hard to hit, especially when you get the combination of speed and location,” Artaega said.

It’s a process that started last season with the Twins’ rookie league team in Elizabethton, Tenn., and with the Class A team in Beloit, Wis., where Baxendale went a combined 0-0 with an 0.96 ERA. In 18 2/3 innings, he allowed only 3 runs (2 earned) on 13 hits with 2 walks and 31 strikeouts.

“We decided last season to keep his innings at a minimum,” Artaega said. “That allowed him to see the game from a different perspective. It gave him the chance to play and still rest and get ready for 2013.”

The process continued in the off season as Baxendale worked out with several other former Razorbacks, including Detroit Tigers pitcher Drew Smyly and catcher James McCann, who is with the Tigers’ Class AA team in Erie, Pa.

“Going into my first spring training, not knowing what I was about to get into, I was able to talk to those guys I had played with before and asked them what to prepare for,” Baxendale said. “Being able to throw to McCann gave me a professional mind-set of what pitches I need to throw in which counts.”

Baxendale took the advice to heart. In nine starts, he hasn’t allowed more than six hits in any game and hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs. He has had five or more strikeouts in six games, including four consecutive games between April 25 and May 11. He had a career-high 10 strikeouts May 6 in a victory over the Tampa Yankees.

“I pride myself on being able to attack the zone, throw low strikes, attack hitters,” Baxendale said. “I don’t like walking people at all. I’d rather throw a good pitch and let the hitter get a hit than throw four balls to a guy and feel like I’m just giving him a free pass.”

Baxendale’s former roommate at Arkansas, Matt Reynolds, knows that all too well. Reynolds, who is with the Port St. Lucie Mets, faced Baxendale on April 19.

“He changed his windup a little bit and has more of a turn when he lifts his leg, so he hides the ball a little bit better,” Reynolds said. “It’s a little more deceiving. His stuff is really good. His off speed was sharp and commands both sides of the plate. He’s a difficult pitcher to hit against.”

Not only are hitters taking notice of Baxendale, but so are officials within the Twins organization. General Manager Terry Ryan saw Baxendale’s three-hit, shutout performance over seven innings with Fort Myers in a victory over Charlotte on May 17.

“He’s got that cross-fire,which makes it uncomfortable for a righty to stay in there,” Ryan said during a recent radio interview. “Yet, he has the ability to get lefties out even though they might get a good look at him because he’s got pinpoint command and control.”

Ryan was also impressed by Baxendale’s demeanor.

“I think he’s got guts, and I think he knows who he is,” Ryan said. “I think he’s on a mission to get out of here.”

Baxendale has completed that mission, but there are new challenges awaiting in New Britain.

“He’s going to need a better curve and a better slider,” Artaega said. “DJ is going to have to make adjustments on his pitches, maybe get a little stronger. No matter what, he’s going to pitch in a way that will allow him to get people out and keep him in games.”

Information for this article was contributed by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette staff member Matt Jones and by Jonathan Raymond of MLB.com.