Collmenter regains confidence while bouncing between rotation, 'pen
Based on his strong 2011 numbers, right-hander Josh Collmenter deserved a spot in the Arizona Diamondbacks' rotation when the season opened, his rocky spring training notwithstanding. He had a rough patch in April, but the numbers suggest Collmenter deserves his recent reinstatement.
Collmenter is 2-0 with a 1.51 ERA in 15 appearances, including four starts, since May 5. He gave up two runs in seven innings of an 8-2 victory over Houston last Sunday, and he will take a string of three consecutive quality starts into a Friday outing against the New York Mets, who broke a six-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory Thursday behind rookie right-hander Matt Harvey.
Collmenter's body of work since his rough beginning -- he also has 45 strikeouts in his last 47 2/3 innings -- provides a revealing glimpse at his character.
"How do I describe him? He's really hard to rattle in situations," manager Kirk Gibson said.
Collmenter made quality starts against the Brewers and Dodgers the first week of July, giving up one earned run in six innings each time, after Joe Saunders was placed on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation
But he was back in the bullpen after the All-Star break, when Saunders returned to health and Trevor Bauer remained in the rotation. After throwing three shutout innings in relief of Bauer in a 4-0 loss at Cincinnati on July 17, Collmenter was put back in the rotation when Bauer was optioned to Class AAA Reno the next day.
Collmenter, 10-10 with 3.38 ERA last season, believes it was a look at video that helped him regain his mechanics, and with them his confidence.
"I made some good pitches early on, but it was not a result of consistency. It was kind of more luck getting it there. Smoothing out my mechanics and getting back to how I pitched last year and how I've always pitched definitely helped," Collmenter said.
He made a statement in an emergency start against the Cubs on June 22, giving up one run in four innings when Saunders could not get loose in the bullpen for the start. Collmenter found out he was starting as the players lined up for the national anthem. He returned to the bullpen because of an off day before his two early-July starts.
"I wasn't going to give up," he said of his perseverance. "I wanted to make sure I gave my best effort. If it took going to the 'pen ... them just to have the faith to put me in the 'pen, I wanted to reward that."
