Baseball Beginnings

By John Klima
December 31, 2009

Matt Hobgood recently turned 19, a few months removed from his professional debut after the Baltimore Orioles made the Norco (Calif.) right-hander the team’s no. 1 pick and the 5^th overall selection in the 2009 MLB Draft. Hobgood, who signed for $2.5 million with a “22” mixed into the tail of that contract to reflect his favorite number, went to rookie ball where he is well aware that many observers expressed concern about results and diminished velocity.

Hobgood has always pitched with a chip on his shoulder. As an amateur, he believed he belonged in the same company as the other power arm starting pitchers in his draft class. He has heard the comments that his body is too big to allow for success over a long career. In all our conversations with Hobgood, he has made it a point to express his differing opinion.

Baseball Beginnings caught up with Hobgood recently, moments after the right-hander finished a winter workout. What we found was a young pitcher who recognizes that he wasn’t lights out in Bluefield, but on the other side of the coin, Bluefield is rookie ball for a reason.

Hobgood examined his numbers – 26 2/3 innings, 32 hits, 8 walks, 16 strikeouts, 17 runs, 14 earned, 0 home runs – and took them for what they’re worth. He doesn’t discount that it wasn’t what people wanted, but does dispute that it indicates that his ceiling has arrived.

Hobgood believes his velocity is still his main weapon, but also believes that last summer produced strides in command and off-speed. He believes he showed his competitive side by pitching through fatigue and the dead-arm period that often hits young pitchers when there is a layoff between the end of the spring season and the start of the summer season. 

Nor does he use it as an excuse. A winter conditioning program has already had results for Hobgood, who is eager to prove that he’s ready to continue growing into the workhorse major league starter the Orioles envision. 

Baseball Beginnings: You break it down for us. What was good for you when you went out, what was bad, and how did you feel you threw the ball?
Hobgood: On a small note, I think one of the things I did well was throw a lot of ground balls. I didn’t have much velocity. I think one of the best games I had was against Princeton when I threw a one-hitter in five innings. I was throwing, I think, 86-88, the whole game. I wasn’t blowing anyone away. I was just hitting corners.

Baseball Beginnings: People were worried because the velocity was down. Can you explain what factors led to that?
Hobgood: I was tired. The first time I started pitching (in 2009) was in late January at the workout at the Urban Youth Academy. That was the earliest I had ever started a high school season. I hit 96 or something there, but my arm wasn’t really ready for it. I think I caught up with myself a little bit in the high school season and got some control of the velocity. I think what hurt me most was taking off a month from the Mater Dei game to the June 6^th when I went out to Baltimore and threw a bullpen.

Baseball Beginnings: The Mater Dei game seemed to be where the power started to slip. Dead arm periods often happen to college pitchers between the end of the school year in early May and the start of summer baseball in early June. Do you think that played a role in the reduced velocity?
Hobgood: It took me a little over a month just to get back to feeling where I could actually throw good, and even then, I think I topped the whole year at Bluefield at like 91. I was trying to throw hard, but I wasn’t trying to look like I was throwing hard, if you know what I mean. I talked to (Orioles scouting director) Joe Jordan a little bit. He came down and he said somebody asked him why high school pitchers loose velocity as rookies. Joe said it’s just different. We’re not used to throwing every day.

Baseball Beginnings: What did you work on? When you say you were ‘trying not to look like you were throwing hard,’ it sounds like you were trying to let the ball come out of your hand naturally instead of going max effort and losing command.
Hobgood: I was trying not to be too herky-jerky. I changed up my motion when I first got there and we looked at video, so I was pitching through those adjustments. We slowed my motion down some so I could feel like I was in more control. I never really got in a groove, but I never felt bad about it. I felt like it was a rookie year and I learned a lot, even though it was short.

Baseball Beginnings: So now you get to develop as a professional instead of an amateur and balance your own progression against these external expectations.
Hobgood: I think that’s what gets lost. There’s so much more than lifting weights for three months, throwing and running. Some guys are different. I was in instructs and 90 percent of the guys threw as hard as they could all the time. Some have good arms and good tools, but don’t take the time to learn the game or learn to apply tools into skills. Like I said at the press conference in Baltimore, I think there’s a lot of good players who have lots of tools but don’t know how to use them. I don’t think I fully know what to do exactly, but I’m still trying to learn. If a guy isn’t afraid of 94-95, well, then I need to throw 91 and put it where he can’t pull the trigger. It’s not always about speed, but it’s what you get judged on. I do think the velocity will come back once I get the high school out of me.

Baseball Beginnings: Stuff wise, did you add anything or delete anything?
Hobgood: I started throwing a change-up for the first time. I threw it a couple of times against Riverside Poly against Jake Marisnick.

Baseball Beginnings: I remember that pitch. Was that the split-change?
Hobgood: That was the best it looked all year in high school and I used it against Marisnick and I think Blair Moore. I started playing with a circle change in Bluefield, just a straight change-up, not looking for a lot of movement but more for a miles-per-hour difference.

Come back Friday for Part II of catching up with Matt Hobgood.

More on Matt Hobgood:
Watch Matt Hobgood Scouting video
Read Matt Hobgood Q&A
Read Matt Hobgood Scouting report
Catching up with Matt Hobgood
Watch Matt Hobgood vs. Jake Marisnick Video

Categories: '09 Meet the Player, 2009 Draft, 2009 Minor Leagues, Baseball Beginnings Exclusives
Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Matt Hobgood