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Andy's Secret Is His Success

Tribune photo by CLIFF McBRIDE

Sonnanstine issued the sixth-fewest walks per nine innings of the league's starters.

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 21, 2009

Updated: 02/22/2009 01:19 am

PORT CHARLOTTE - One of them had to go.

If common sense hadn't told Andy Sonnanstine that, baseball's offseason rumor mill would have been there to drive the point home. As pleased as the Rays were with the job Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson did holding down the back end of the starting rotation last season, there wasn't going to be room for both of them and the expected addition of David Price to the mix in 2009.

So, one of them had to go.

Sonnanstine's name was mentioned occasionally throughout the offseason - though not as frequently as Jackson's was. The Mets were said to be interested in him, and perhaps the Marlins. Though Sonnanstine had been given no indication by the Rays that he was on the block, he also couldn't be sure that he wasn't.

That certainty arrived only after Tampa Bay dealt Jackson to the Tigers for outfielder Matt Joyce on Dec. 10, ensuring Sonnanstine's rotation spot and his peace of mind.

"I love this organization, and I'm glad I'm still here," he said. "I wish Jackson was still here, too, but that's the business of baseball. People are going to get moved around, and I'm just thankful I'm still in the clubhouse with a bunch of really, really good friends."

By all accounts, that feeling is mutual. Though the Rays are willing to listen to trade offers on just about any of their players, it sounds as if they wanted to keep Sonnanstine around just as fervently as he wanted to remain here.

Manager Joe Maddon and Executive Vice President Andrew Friedman are true believers in the right-hander's worth and tend to go out of their way to praise a guy who is sometimes overlooked.

"I don't think he gets nearly as much credit as he should," Friedman said. "He was a big part of our success last year, and we're counting on him being a big part of our success going forward."

Sonnanstine is, too, though he knows fulfilling that promise will require constant adjustments on his part. The tortoise of the Rays' rotation, he is Tampa Bay's one starter unable to rely upon reaching back and really trying to blow one past a hitter when he's in trouble.

His success is dependent upon precision and consistency, and he readily acknowledges that his margin for error is narrower than most of his peers.' Lacking the overpowering stuff of a Price or a Matt Garza, Sonnanstine does everything he can to get hitters to put the ball in play.

Last season, Sonnanstine ranked seventh among American League starters in fewest pitches thrown per inning (15.1) and the highest percentage of pitches put into play (22.3). With that type of approach, Sonnanstine can't afford to give away base-runners, and he doesn't. He issued the sixth-fewest walks per nine innings of the league's starters, 1.72.

As long as the balls put into play don't go over the fence too often (he served up 21 homers last season), Sonnanstine usually finds a way to get the job done.

"I look at it as, I'm a contact pitcher," he said. "They're going to put the ball in play, and sometimes they hit it in the gaps, sometimes they hit it really hard right at somebody. With our fielders, there's eight other guys out there who could very possibly win a Gold Glove at every position, so I would be kind of stupid not to use all my position players to the fullest potential."

As someone whose style has been compared to that of Greg Maddux in the past, it's fair to consider Sonnanstine a cerebral pitcher. Friedman said he makes in-game adjustments "as well as anybody that we have" and adds that Sonnanstine's knack for reading hitters and exposing their weaknesses makes up for his inability to fire a 95 mph fastball in on someone's hands.

"I think you're selling him short if you focus just on grading his pitches," Friedman said. "He trusts his stuff, he trusts his defense, and that has resulted in a lot of success."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227.

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