Major-league arm heads to Goldeyes

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This article was published 01/06/2010 (5929 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HE was a major-league reliever last season and boasts a fastball that tops out in the mid-90s. On top of that, he has an eye-popping lifetime strikeouts-to-walks ratio and he is undefeated in 21 big-league appearances.

And if all that wasn’t enough, Bobby Korecky also has a perfect 1.000 batting average in the majors.

So why on earth is Korecky going to walk out to the mound in Gary, Ind., as early as today wearing a Winnipeg Goldeyes uniform? There’s always a catch in the Northern League and in Korecky’s case the catch is actually two catches — a pair of major elbow reconstructions.

Korecky — a 30-year-old right-handed University of Michigan grad — underwent his second Tommy John surgery in six years over the winter and emerged this spring to find himself healthy, but unwanted by any major-league organization.

“I’m a bit surprised that a team wouldn’t want to take a chance on me, just based on the strength of my last two seasons,” Korecky said in a phone interview Monday. “But I’ve had expectations before in my career that haven’t come true. And then I’ve had great moments in my career where I haven’t been expecting anything.

“So I’ve thrown all that out and I just don’t expect anything anymore.”

The Goldeyes, on the other hand, have nothing but high expectations for Korecky, who is a gift from the heavens for the club. The Fish announced on Monday they had signed the former big-leaguer, just one day after they lost two pitchers in one game to season-ending injuries.

Opening-day starter Matt Kniginyzky — the first Canadian to ever start an opener for the Fish — and reliever Andrew Barb both had to leave the Goldeyes game in Rockford Sunday with shoulder soreness and both are believed to be gone for at least the season, maybe longer.

“There’s talk about retiring,” Fish manager Rick Forney said by phone Monday from Gary, where his club’s matinee game with the RailCats was rained out Monday. “For sure, they won’t pitch again this season.”

And so into that gaping void descends Korecky in a match that seems almost too good to be true. Forney said the timing of the Korecky signing is fortuitous, but also a long time in coming. The Fish and Korecky had agreed to terms last March and Korecky was expected to come to training camp last month. But then the hurler got an opportunity to work out for some big-league scouts, which delayed his arrival.

Now, with no firm offers from any organizations, Forney said there would never be a better time for Korecky to join the Fish than on this road swing.

“To get a guy like Bobby with the kind of resumé he has,” said Forney, “I’d say that’s a pretty significant signing for our league.”

The Goldeyes will use Korecky as a closer and he was expected to make an appearance Monday if the Goldeyes hadn’t been rained out.

“He’s in good shape, he’s ready to go,” said Forney. “He’s been throwing off a mound for some time now.”

While a second Tommy John surgery set off loud alarm bells for the big leagues, it bears noting Korecky bounced back nicely after he underwent the first surgery in 2004. Korecky returned in 2006 to pitch double-A and by the end of that season was pitching in triple-A.

And this time around? “I feel as strong right now,” Korecky says, “as I ever have when I was healthy.”

The Goldeyes are scheduled to play in Gary again today and Wednesday, before returning home to face the Schaumburg Flyers Friday night.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

The Bobby Korecky file

Position: Relief pitcher.

Particulars: 5-11, 185 pounds, right-hander.

— Korecky appeared in 16 games with the Twins in 2008, going 2-0 with a 4.58 ERA. The Twins waived him during spring training in 2009 and he was picked up by Arizona, where he struggled his way to a 13.50 ERA through just five appearances that year.

— Korecky throws strikes — and lots of them. He has 354 strikeouts in 317 appearances over the course of eight minor-league seasons, while walking just 127 in that same period.

— Korecky pitched in the Eastern League (AA) all-star game in 2005 and in the International League (AAA) all-star game in 2007.

— On May 19, 2008, Korecky became the first Minnesota Twins pitcher to get a hit in an American League game since the introduction of the designated hitter rule in 1973. Korecky’s single to right field in the 11th inning led to the winning run coming across in a 7-6 Twins win over the Texas Rangers. Korecky also got credit for the victory.