Baseball Beginnings

By John Klima
June 1, 2009

(photo: Stanford)

Perhaps the engineering department is Stanford University’s secret weapon when it comes to recruiting hard-throwing right-handed closers. It’s a path that won’t work for everyone, but it did for Drew Storen.

Drafted out of high school by the New York Yankees, Storen choose the books over the Bronx. The Yankees can put you on that conveyor belt to the big leagues, but they aren’t doing it to show you all the working parts beneath your feet.

Storen, 21, is a draft-eligible sophomore who should be among the first college closers selected. He turned down the Yankees in 2007, wagering that the opportunity to pitch at The Farm while he immersed himself in his product design major was worth more than 34th round money. The Yankees liked Storen so much that he said that their offer was better than the round money, but he had his own designs.

Storen entered Stanford as a starting pitcher whose modest frame and whippy arm allowed him to top out at 92-93 mph. Starting pitching depth necessitated his conversion to closing, where he has hit 97 mph this season. Storen also throws what he describes as a power slurve, which offers a different plane and 8-10 mph of velocity separation. His third pitch, a traditional power slider, makes him a three-pitch man with a starting pedigree. That means you can flip a coin in the future.

Stanford and Storen fit together like a sock and a shoe. Baseball Beginnings caught up with the closer to discuss his rapid progress and how intellectual curiosity complements his stuff.

Baseball Beginnings: Describe your progression as a college pitcher and where you think the biggest jump came for you?
Storen: In college, you’re around good coaches and you learn a lot about pitching. My velocity has jumped and my stuff has gotten better. I’ve gained the ability to pitch with that stuff, which I think is just as important and has been a key for my success. I think I learned how to take better care of my body day in and day out. I think that helps you come back quicker, especially as a reliever instead of a starter. It’s been important for me to have good coaches around who understand how to teach you.

Baseball Beginnings: Let’s talk about three things you mentioned: velocity, body, and role change. What do you touch and what do you work at right now and what did you touch and what did you work at when you came in?
Storen: Out of high school, I would touch 92 or 93 mph. In the last year, I hit 94. Over the summer, I got to 95. This year, I’ve touched 96 and 97. I think that’s something long toss has really helped me with, just helping me build arm strength and get more extension. It helps me bounce back. I’ll probably work at 93-94 for strikes now. There’s days when I can air it out.

Baseball Beginnings: Are you surprised that you had that much in you?
Storen: Yes. I’m not a big guy by any stretch of the imagination. I was surprised when I first started getting up there. I didn’t really realize it once I started doing that. Going into the year, I didn’t know I was going to be hitting those numbers. But the important thing for me is to remember that even when I’m throwing hard, I still have to think about pitching with that velocity. It’s not all about get up there and throw it as hard as you can. That’s not pitching. It doesn’t matter how hard you throw. The fact is, if you throw hard and leave the ball up, you will get crushed.

Baseball Beginnings:  What secondary pitches are you throwing and how have they developed in college?
Storen: They call it a curveball, but to me it’s more like a power slurve. It has like a 7:30/11 plane on it. I also have a slider, like 86-87 mph. My slider is something that I think has been better this spring. That slider has become a good complement for the slurve. I have a change-up that I don’t really use in games. I started playing with it in the Fall in case I had to become a starter this year.

Baseball Beginnings: Your media guide bio has you at 6-2, 175. What were you coming out of high school and what are you now?
Storen: I was more like 6-2, 160 out of high school. Now I’m 6-2, 180. That’s just all due to getting older and also better conditioning. I’m not the guy who puts on weight easily, so I have to pay attention. That’s something I really started last year and incorporated into this year.

Baseball Beginnings: How did you feel about becoming a closer?
Storen: For me, we had so many starters that I thought it might be easier to pitch coming out of the pen. I just wanted the opportunity to throw as a freshman. I got my first save at home against Cal State Fullerton, where I was able to come into a tough spot. I really enjoyed the role. I feel like I can thrive in that role. I like the pressure. I don’t know what will happen at the next level. I might start in the minor leagues, but either role is fine with me. I want to be on the mound, that’s what matters.

Baseball Beginnings: If they fast track you, you can be a closer.
Storen: You can, but to be honest, it doesn’t really matter to me. I’ll do whatever they ask me to do. I just want to get to the big leagues and pitch. That’s really what it comes down to.

Baseball Beginnings: How advantageous was playing on The Cape for you last year?
Storen: You don’t realize how much work you have to do and how much you have to learn until you get to face lineups full of everybody’s best guys. The daily grind was another good thing to learn from. In college, you play Tuesday and on the weekends. The Cape is 25 games in 25 days. I feel like I learned a lot and it helped me a lot. I think it will help me when I get to pro ball because that’s what the minor leagues will be like. That really helped me. That’s where I learned about what it was really going to mean to be a closer. There are so many tight games.

Baseball Beginnings: Was there any thought to signing out of high school when the Yankees took you in the 34^th round in 2007?
Storen: We weren’t talking 34^th round money. It was a legitimate option for me, but I didn’t feel like pitching at Stanford was a consolation prize. Looking back, I did the right thing. I’m a product design major, which is part of the engineering department.   

Baseball Beginnings: Is there any mental correlation between being a pitcher and doing something that is about moving parts working together?
Storen: It’s funny for me, because I’m mainly a feel guy more than a visual guy. It contradicts itself.  What I like about (engineering) is you’re kind of by yourself. It’s competitive, but it’s a different kind of competition than baseball competition. That’s enjoyable. I kind of like that. I get a thrill out of both kinds of competition.  

Baseball Beginnings: Would you finish that degree regardless of what happens in baseball?
Storen: Yes. That was a big thing for me when I went to school. I wanted the school to have a product design or an industrial design major. That was a big factor for me. That’s something I’ll finish regardless of baseball.  I always used to draw things like big league uniforms. I really loved working with drawing and computers and that was something I wanted to do.

Washington Nationals Draft Drew Storen

Categories: '09 Meet the Player
Tags: Cape Cod League, Drew Storen, Stanford