Consistency a key for Sea Dogs starting pitchers hoping to advance

If the season goes according to plan, the Portland Sea Dogs will use many of the same starting pitchers as they have on they have on their roster to begin the year.

Plans have a way of changing though, especially in Double-A baseball, so Sea Dogs Manager Chad Epperson can already count on giving the ball to at least a dozen pitchers to start a game sometime this season.

“Our plan is we have a set five, but things happen in the course of a season,” Epperson said during Wednesday afternoon’s practice at Hadlock Field, the team’s last workout before opening the season at 6 p.m. Thursday against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

Last season, 22 pitchers started at least one game for the Sea Dogs. That included major leaguers Chris Sale, Rich Hill and Michael Wacha, who were sent to Portland by the Boston Red Sox for injury rehab starts. That’s the most starting pitchers the Sea Dogs have used in a season in a franchise history, which dates back to 1994.

Already this season, Portland’s rotation is on hold, with Boston’s Garrett Whitlock expected to start Thursday’s opener as a rehab game before he rejoins the Red Sox.

Lefty Shane Drohan will get the start on Friday, and will be followed in the rotation in some order by right-handers Chih-Jung Liu, Brian Van Belle, Sterling Sharp and Wyatt Olds. Each member of that quintet started at least one game last season for Portland, as the 2022 Sea Dogs turned over the entire rotation from April to September.

Each of the five starters who began last season with Portland – Bryan Bello, Chris Murphy, Brandon Walter, Victor Santos and Jay Groome – earned a promotion to Triple-A Worcester during the season. Bryan Mata, a starter who began the season on the injured list recovering from elbow surgery, also got the call from Portland to Worcester. Bello ended the season in Boston, while Groome was dealt to San Diego at the trade deadline.

“That was a good group of arms. We knew they were going to move fast if they came out and did what they were supposed to,” Epperson said.

This year’s starting pitchers enter the season knowing to make that same brisk advancement through the system, the biggest thing they need is consistency.

“Knowing your routine, what you have to do, not just on the field but in the training room. Getting yourself ready for when your name is called if you’re in the bullpen or starting,” Sharp said.

Sharp saw time in the majors in 2020 with the Miami Marlins. He was released by the Washington Nationals on Aug. 5, 2022, and signed with the Red Sox four days later. He knows starting in Portland is a chance to fine tune his best pitches, a sinker he throws around 90 miles per hour and a changeup. Sharp is also working on a slider and a cutter. Getting ground balls with his sinker is the key to his success, Sharp said. He wants to get a ground ball from a hitter within the first three pitches of the at-bat.

“Since coming over here (to the Red Sox organization) over the last five weeks of last season, I’ve felt good. I felt like I got off to a good start. Pitching analytics is new to me, and I learned a lot over the last year,” said the 27-year-old Sharp.

Drohan said his best pitch is his changeup, but he knows he has to improve his cutter. So that’s a pitch he expects he’ll throw a lot this season, even if it’s not working at first.

“I’m always working on all of them, but I’m really pounding that cutter. I’ll start introducing that into my mix. It’s just another layer for hitters to have to think about. It’s kind of the exact opposite movement of my changeup,” said Drohan, 23.

Epperson said Drohan and Van Belle showed improved velocity in spring training. Sharp needs to continue pounding the strike zone and keeping his infield on its toes with ground balls, Epperson said. For Olds and Liu, the key to development is throwing more strikes and getting ahead of batters.

“You’re trying to build that endurance. Get them to that five-, six-inning mark where they’re throwing 115 pitches. Maybe seven innings. You don’t want to put a number on it. Early on, we’ll monitor them, obviously, but it’s about development,” Epperson said. “If a guy needs to focus on his changeup, we want him to throw his changeup more than probably what a game may normally dictate him to do.”

Drohan’s father, Bill Drohan, pitched in the Kansas City Royals system. Once he figured out how to flip things around to show his left-handed son proper pitching mechanics, he offered Shane advice on making it through the minor leagues.

“He just said it’s not going to be easy. There’s going to be a lot of days where you question if you really want to do it,” Drohan said. “I think that’s a good thing. I think it makes it fun for me, the challenge.”