Drey Jameson's Role Evolving Into High Leverage Reliever

While starting for the Diamondbacks in the future has not been taken off the table, the emerging trend is clear

Mike Hazen was initially reluctant to convert a starting pitcher to the bullpen to start the season.  Back in January he was asked if he was considering using any of the pitchers engaged in the 5th rotation spot competition in the bullpen to start the season, he seemed hesitant to do that. Perhaps learning from past mistakes such as the handling of Jon Duplantier in 2019, he indicated he does not want to be moving pitchers back and forth between a relief role and a starting pitching role.

“If you do that there is really no going back in the other direction or you are increasing the risk of injury of to the player”

Despite those initial misgivings about converting a starter, that's exactly what they seem to be doing with Drey Jameson. The young, hard-throwing right-hander lost out in the rotation competition to Ryne Nelson, but made the Opening Day roster as a reliever out of the pen.  During a media session on March 27th, Jameson said he found out about the move to the bullpen when he met with general manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo after the team made the decision about the final rotation spot. The team let him know they wanted to keep him stretched out in case a spot opens up in the rotation later in the season. 

That seemed to be what they were doing when Jameson's first outing was a four inning, 66 pitch appearance in relief of Merrill Kelly on March 31st. But since then a trend seems to be emerging with less rest between outings and shorter, lower pitch counts. 

Jack Sommers

Asked about this trend and whether the team was still committed to keeping Jameson stretched out, Torey Lovullo acknowledged managing this process  and balancing the desire to keep him stretched out with trying to win baseball games has been a challenge for them. But 

"We know how valuable and important he is to helping us win baseball games.  One game is going to make the difference in the NL West.  Wherever we're trying to get to, we've taken the mind set that one game will make a difference."

"We're just  trying to utilize him the best way we know how without putting him in a position to get tired right now, having a long term thought if somebody goes down, would he be available to step in to the starting rotation."

"We feel like there is a model that we're following and we're still within the framework of being able to in case somebody goes down to put him in the rotation." 

"Is there a strategy to three days down, two days down ? Absolutely not. It's just a matter of where's he going to help us, is he available.  How we can get him to the most important part of the game to help us win a baseball game." 

Having made clear that winning games now is the paramount concern above all else, Lovullo was reminded of Hazen's comments and asked if there was a tipping point on the near horizon where Jameson would end up past the point of no return to get stretched back out to start. 

"I've asked that same question, whether it's the amount of time, the amount of days, the type of usage. I think within the first month, if there's some lengthy outings, I think you're still safe. That's the answer I've been given."

Going forward the team seems to be very much playing it by ear, based on the situations as they arise. 

"I don't think there's a timeline, I don't think there's a perfect model. We're plugging in information as we're using him and then continuing to build it out from there. But each one his outing could look different than the last one.  He could take a few days off and then be ready to throw 55 or 60 pitches.  We might need him on day three instead of day four. It's just a matter of what we need, days off, the combination of a lot of different things.  But I don't know what that magic day is, is it May 1st, ? I don't know." 

Jameson for his part said he's not diving too much into his usage pattern. 

"I don't know what their goal is, but like I said before on this, whenever they hand me the ball I'm going out and I'm just going to try to do my job."

Already known as an intense competitor, Jameson may be best suited to a high leverage reliever role. He certainly seems to have that mind set and has embraced the moments presented to him so far. 

"Those are the games I want to be in, games where things are on the line, and close ballgames where pitches are very crucial. Those are the moments that I like. I think I perform best in those situations. I like that role."

In addition to being an intense competitor, Jameson has shown a lot of personality in his brief time in the majors. That includes his choice of footwear. During his most recent outing he was wearing customized shoes from the cartoon Scooby Doo.

© Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

For some fun discussion with Drey about how he got into customizing his shoes, and all the first hand comments from the manager, listen to the sound cloud below.