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Shouse's Specialty: Baffling Hitters

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: March 28, 2009

Updated: 03/28/2009 12:33 am

FORT MYERS - Sometime during a mid-May weekend in 2006, Scott Hatteberg heard the news and let out the sigh of a defeated man.

The Brewers had acquired Brian Shouse from the Rangers, and Hatteberg, a renowned contact hitter who walked more times than he struck out during a big-league career that spanned more than a decade, wasn't happy about it. The Cincinnati Reds first baseman had never recorded a hit off Shouse, and he knew more frustration lay ahead now that they were back together in the same division.

When Hatteberg's reaction is mentioned to Shouse a few years later, the 40-year-old just laughs. He was well aware of the sway he held over Hatteberg, to the point that the two would joke about it when they crossed paths. And at last, in the bottom of the eighth inning of a Reds-Brewers game on April 16, 2007, Hatteberg nicked Shouse for a single to right field.

"He finally got a hit off me and he was like, 'The curse is broken!'" Shouse said, still chuckling.

And just in time. Hatteberg is now out of baseball, finishing his career 1-for-22 against Shouse.

The Rays' new lefty specialist in the bullpen isn't on anyone's list of the most intimidating pitchers in the game, but the mere sight of the diminutive sidearmer is enough to deflate some of the most feared hitters in the game.

"I know when they're in the on-deck circle and they see the guy warming up, they don't like it," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "You just don't like that moment, even thinking about it."

On the verge of his 20th season as a professional pitcher, Shouse is only beginning to grasp his ability to make a big-league hitter squirm.

"It's neat to hear guys talk about that a little bit, because you just go about your business out there and you really don't think much of it," Shouse said. "Then when you play with some of the guys and talk to them a little bit, they'll say, 'Man, I'm so glad I don't have to face you anymore,' and I'm like, 'Oh, wow - I didn't know people thought like that.' I mean, I only throw 80 miles an hour, if that."

Standing in the left-handed batter's box against Shouse isn't uncomfortable in the same way staring down a guy who throws in the mid-90s but doesn't quite know where it's going can be. But he has found an effective formula by relying on his ball to sink and slide, locating it well enough to ensure it's a strike but simultaneously keeping a hitter from making solid enough contact to really drive it.

Rays infielder Adam Kennedy, a left-handed hitter who is 1-for-10 in his career against Shouse, just shakes his head when the topic is raised.

"I think I have a good game-plan against him now, after 10 at-bats, and I still just can't square the ball up," Kennedy said. "By the end of the at-bat you may have a better idea, but the at-bat's over and you may not face him again for another month. He's just one of those guys where it just takes a lot of at-bats to get used to him, and by that time, game over."

It's a strange existence, really. In theory, the select few in bullpens around the majors who hold the designation of lefty specialist could pitch every day. Warm up, enter the game in a tight situation with a key hitter at the plate, face that guy and head for the showers.

Shouse's workdays usually aren't quite that concise, but he faced only one batter in 59 of his 207 big-league appearances the past three years. It isn't as easy a gig as it might appear, either. Rays reliever Chad Bradford, a right-hander who specializes in coaxing groundballs, said it takes a certain kind of mental toughness to do what Shouse does.

"You just don't have as much room for error, because let's say you go in there and you give up one hit to that lefty you're supposed to get out - that's a big deal," Bradford said. "Whereas if you're a starter or you're a guy that goes a few innings and you give up that one hit, it's not that big a deal - you can get the next guy out."

Of course, as long as Shouse keeps getting lefties out more often than not, there probably will be a place for him in someone's bullpen.

There are certainly worse fates than being relegated to the role of lefty specialist.

"I really don't know how it evolved into that, because I've always thought of myself as somebody that can go out there and give you an inning or two innings," Shouse said. "I've never really wanted to label myself as that, but it's worked so far."

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

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