Baseball Beginnings

By John Klima
November 20, 2009

(photo: Conejo Oaks)

Kevin Gelinas described himself as a guy who “didn’t think I was going to fall off the radar because I wasn’t really on the radar in the first place.” 

You’ve got to like the guy’s humility.

A product of Thousand Oaks (Calif.) High School, the left-hander with the French Canadian name pitched 12 innings at Pepperdine as a freshman, and while pitching summer ball, was spotted by a Central Arizona Junior College assistant keeping his eyes open in Santa Maria. A strong season at Central Arizona got Gelinas drafted in the 45^th round by the Detroit Tigers in 2009. This summer, he continued his progression for Conejo Oaks. It just goes to show you that not every prospect can be found on the Cape. We here at Baseball Beginnings are very thankful for that.

Baseball Beginnings caught up with Gelinas after he pitched seven innings on a wickedly hot day in late July. He pitched at 88-92 with a slider at 77-80. We’ll have video and a scouting report in the future.

In the meantime, Gelinas explains where he has been and where he hopes he is going.

Baseball Beginnings: Let’s start with after you left Pepperdine. What was your next move?
Gelinas: I started working with Tim Leary after I left Pepperdine. He’s a family friend, the same guy who pitched for the Dodgers. He changed my mechanics around 180. At first I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ I’m open-minded and I didn’t shut him down, but I didn’t understand what was happening at first. I pitched for Oaks last summer and had a good year based on what he had me start to think about. I knew I wanted to go back to Division I baseball but I had to sit out the year because I transferred. I ran into a guy from the Santa Maria Indians, Ryan Ruiz, who lead me to Central Arizona. 

Baseball Beginnings: What was the 180?
Gelinas: Basically, I was an upright and stand up guy. (Leary) had me crouch down a little bit. He got me a little more compact and got me to use my legs a lot more to create more power. I got to the point with it last summer where I was 91-94. At Central this year, I started working on off-speed. I was just a big, raw left-handed body who was kind of uncoordinated. Leary got me a little more coordinated. I got more innings on the Oaks. Things started rolling from there.

Baseball Beginnings: Based on what I saw today, you do get downhill with both pitches. You do tend to fall out of it sometimes but you’re aware on the mound to make that correction. You aim sometimes, but that can be corrected. You give the impression of someone who is trying to become a durable left-handed innings eater.
Gelinas: I see myself as a fastball-slider guy. Today for example I started throwing a change-up in the game a lot more today, just to take it out of the bullpen and see how it worked in a game. I started throwing it more at Central Arizona. I think my slider improved tremendously this year in terms of keeping it consistent and using it as an out pitch.

Baseball Beginnings: Were you expecting to be drafted in the 45^th round or were you disappointed with where you went?
Gelinas: I was asking for a lot of money. They had me in the top 10 rounds. I said to myself, that if I’m going to leave school, it’s going to have to be for enough money. My Dad and I had a mutual number to sign for. I didn’t end up going as high as I wanted to, but I still thought it was a very cool accomplishment even though it was really late. You know how the draft works.

Baseball Beginnings: As of this interview the draft deadline is still a few weeks away. By the time we publish this on Baseball Beginnings, the deadline will have passed. Should we expect to see you pitching this spring at UC Santa Barbara?
Gelinas: Yes. I think a lot can improve from now until the (2010) draft in terms of throwing any pitch in any count.

Baseball Beginnings: Do you still feel like you’re new to pitching?
Gelinas: Yes. I think I have a long road ahead of me. It won’t be easy, but I have the work ethic.

Baseball Beginnings: What kind of pitcher do you see yourself becoming? Five years from now, you are what?
Gelinas: It kind of depends. I think I was blessed with a pretty good arm. I need more work on stamina and strength and I need to watch the body, but I think I can be a guy who goes out and you can depend on to take the ball and get good stuff from. I think it’s up to myself. No one is going to grab my hand. They can lead me, but I have to do all the work.

Categories: '10 Meet the Player
Tags: Kevin Gelinas, UCSB