Arizona Fall League: Garrett Mock

As I mentioned about a month ago (seems like longer), I went out to see the Nationals who are playing in the Arizona Fall League when I was in Phoenix covering the National League Championship Series. While I'm finally putting something together for the $.35 edition that will kind of encompass what the players get out of the experience and what the Nationals front office expects from the players, I figured it'd be good to put the left-overs from some of the interviews here in the Journal.

Just an overview: The Nationals have seven players participating in the fall league, which is supposed to be reserved for some of the best prospects, a way for top talent to evaluate itself against other top talent. The Nats participants: Pitchers Zech Zinicola, Garrett Mock, Alexis Morrales and Adam Carr, infielder/outfielder Kory Casto, outfielder Justin Maxwell and catcher Devin Ivany (a late replacement for Jesus Flores).

So, here goes. We'll start with a player who Nationals fans might not know much about: Garrett Mock.

Name: Garrett Mock
Position: Right-handed pitcher
Age: 24
Acquired: Aug. 2006 trade with Arizona (with LHP Matt Chico) for RHP Livan Hernandez

2007 regular season:
Class A Potomac: 1 G, 1 GS, 1-0, 6 IP, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA, 1 BB, 5 K
Rookie GCL Nationals: 3 G, 2 GS, 0-2, 7-2/3 IP, 4 ER, 4.70 ERA, 1 BB, 8 K
Class AA Harrisburg: 11 G, 11 GS, 1-5, 51-1/3 IP, 33 ER, 5.79 ERA, 28 BB, 41 K
Totals: 15 G, 14 GS, 2-7, 65 IP, 37 ER, 5.12 ERA, 30 BB, 54 K

Arizona Fall League: 6 G, 5 GS, 18-1/3 IP, 6 ER, 2.95 ERA, 7 BB, 14 K

You might remember that when the Nationals made the trade with Arizona, Mock was the more highly touted of the two pitchers received for Livan. His build - 6-foot-4, 215 pounds - is impressive. But last September, he underwent knee surgery. He had been pitching on a bad knee for almost two years, and it affected him.

In my talk with him, he said that set up another year of injuries.

"I had surgery on Sept. 2" 2006, he said, "and I did my rehab and my timeframe was, we figured by May it should be ready. Just because of who I am, I wanted to beat the odds and get back earlier. I worked my tail off during my rehab in Houston [where he went to college]. I showed up at spring training, and I could do some things but not all. And then I had a little setback in spring training."

The deal: Mock hadn't wanted to wear a knee brace so that he could build up strength in the knee. But when they went to work on pickoff plays to second base, he figured he should wear one just in case. On the first throw, as he whirled to second, he felt a twinge.

"I didn't want to tell anybody, because I had felt that during rehab," he said. "I'd felt that little twinge, and I'd just always pushed through it.

"I went out and finished up the drills, did a few more. It felt the same. I was like, 'I'm probably going to get better.'"

Then, though, after some long tossing, he went to throw his bullpen session. "I just shut it down. It was a little bit more than I was used to." That, then, was the first setback.

(Aside: As Mock would say to me later in the conversation, "In case you can't tell, I'm a talker." I told him that I had noticed. "I mean, I'll talk to that wall, and if I've got a way for him to be a better wall, I'll tell him." Gotcha. Moving on.)

This all started a delayed process. Mock stayed at rehab in Viera, Fla., and then in May finally got the word that he could go up and start for Class A Potomac. He and his wife packed up the truck and headed north on I-95.

"I sat in a car for 24 hours," he said. "The first day I got stopped because of weather. The next day, we took off, and I guess as soon as I got into Virginia there was a wreck about 100 miles ahead of me. I sat in traffic for probably five hours and drove 50 miles."

The start went well, as reflected in his stats above: Six shutout innings. The Nationals, I remember at the time, were excited.

"Everything felt good," Mock said. "But I think that just going from Florida, working out in the mornings with the heat and humidity, then sitting in a car for two days, and then going from that to night and 50 degrees, the next day my arm was aching. It was one of those things where I had a decision to make. I know the setbacks. I pitched two years on a hurt knee and I could just try to throw through this and screw up my arm, or I could just let somebody know. I needed to make a grown-up decision."

That decision, he said, was to tell the Nationals' pitching coordinator, Spin Williams, about the problem. Thus, the Nationals shut him down for a week-10 days. No throwing. No nothing. The problem went away, and some in the Nationals organization I talked to at the time said they couldn't figure Mock out, wondering if he was overly frail.

At any rate, that set him back enough that he needed to go back to Viera, rehab, pitch in the Gulf Coast League - "Just a fun, fun time," he said -- then finally head to Harrisburg. Mock felt like his time in Class AA was a "roller coaster," but he didn't have any health problems, and he felt like his last few outings there were very strong. He then went back to Viera to work with Spin Williams again, then headed west to the fall league. He seemed very, very optimistic when I talked to him.

He also spent much of the year touching base with Chico, his friend from their days in the Arizona organization. Chico gave him some pointers.

"As far as the whole work ethic part of it, I don't think I have any problems with my work ethic," Mock said. "I don't feel like anybody's going to have to kick me in the butt to get going. That's never been a problem with me. But as far as how to carry yourself, ... when I do get up there, one thing I'm going to have to focus on, even if I do have something to say, I need to learn to just keep quiet."

I pointed out that Chico, notoriously understated, would be a good example. "I hope my locker's next to his," he said.

The Nationals must decide whether to keep Mock on the 40-man roster - and thus protect him from other clubs in the Rule 5 draft - and it's a good bet he stays. But when GM Jim Bowden made the trade for Chico and Mock, he said those two players immediately became the best pitching prospects in the Nationals' organization.

Well, look at Baseball America's top 10 prospects for the Nationals, released Wednesday:

1. 1B/OF Chris Marrero
2. LHP Ross Detwiler
3. RHP Collin Balester
4. OF Michael Burgess
5. LHP Jack McGeary
6. LHP Josh Smoker
7. RHP Jordan Zimmermann
8. LHP Glenn Gibson
9. OF Justin Maxwell
10. RHP Colton Willems

Mock's nowhere to be found. (Neither is Chico, but that's because he spent nearly the whole year in the majors.) "Nothing's guaranteed," Mock said.

The key: Mock has to use the fall league to regain his standing in the organization, and he has to be healthy. My guess is he starts at Class AA Harrisburg, but would be a candidate to move to Class AAA Columbus quickly. He's 25 next April. Time to get going.

By Barry Svrluga | November 8, 2007; 6:25 AM ET
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Maxwell has not done that well in the Arizona Fall League, really, so I don't think we should consider him much of a possibility for center field out of Spring Training. The other thing he hasn't completely nailed is writing journal entries from the AZL.

I jest, but not completely. In his latest he says that one of the things he likes about baseball is the nicknames. He then describes some of the lamest nickname attempts ever- calling Zech Zinicola "Z" or "Zini". Calling someone names Tuiasosopo (or the like) "Tui". He might as well have written that they discovered a great new way to make nicknames- just take the first half of someones name, and add the letter "y" to it!!!

One of his teammates even has the name Christian Colonel. A complete setup, but the best they could come up with is "C". I know it could get a little touchy if you nicknamed him something like "Jihad," but I am sure that some lighthearted and totally respectful alternatives to "C" could be found. It's a lost art that used to be owned by the sport of baseball.

Posted by: Three more months | November 8, 2007 07:23 AM

I thought it was clever the way Mock mocks himeself for talking. Great to have some news. Now we hear that this Pelfrey trade possibility with the Mets is still being discussed for the 20th straight month. Sure seems like a win-win to me, and it could put the Mets in contention for most former players on the Nationals roster along with NY, Cincy, and Arizona (Newnattizona). With Lidge moving to Philly, there is one less closer on the market and perhaps that will help drive up the price for Cordero.

Also, what's the deal with Nook? Does he have to be a projected starter to make the team or will he be considerd a possible bench player.

And why didn't Flores go to Arizona as originally planned?

And what are the details on the fanfest in Bethesda (not that I can go to a fanfest in Bethesda, but ....) I certainly hope that this year's off season palyer participation in things titled fanfest will include more than O'Connor and Logan. The team needs to show a bigger commitment to the fans. Young, Belliard, Pena, Rauch, Schneider, Cordero .... those are guys I would expect to see making the rounds at some point. And would it hurt to give away a T-shirt or something? A Key Chain?

Posted by: NatBisquit | November 8, 2007 08:24 AM

For my own amusement here are my Top Ten wishes for the Off-Season

1.) ARod gets less money than he would have if he stayed with NYC
2.) Bonds retires after getting no legitimate offers
3.) The Nationals sign at least one decent Free Agent such as Aaron Rowand
4.) The Nationals make at least one big trade to improve starting pitching
5.) The Nationals Draft a Rule-5 middle infielder with speed to serve as a utility player
6.) My season tickets location does not suck and the Nats communicate early and often
7.) Joe Torre tells the Boss to take a hike, ends up signing with another franchise (check)
8.) Over 8000 parking spots within walking distance of the new stadium are located in time for opening day
9.) MASN announces all broadcasts will be in HDTV
10.) Nationals announcers Slowes, Jaegler, and Carpenter return.

Posted by: NatBisquit | November 8, 2007 08:45 AM

Thanks, Barry - to me, the interesting part of the Mock story is that with Chico catching on and sticking most of last year, he's become the "bonus" part of the Livo trade. Chico produced close to Livo like numbers (fewer innings, but similar production over those innings), so if Mock can recapture his prospect-y status, he becomes an important trade piece, or maybe a starter to be pushed as the LHPs develop.

Posted by: Marc | November 8, 2007 09:07 AM

Loved the Mock quotes, particularly in re. giving advice to walls. I've enjoyed Maxwell's blog entries and IMO he writes very well.

Posted by: natsfan1a | November 8, 2007 09:42 AM

Great quotes, Barry. Kid cracks me up. Ball players are always so uber-cool and aloof, a self-proclaimed chatterbox is refreshing. The wall comment had me in stitches, but the funniest was, by far, "I hope my locker is next to his." What professional ballplayer would SAY that??? It's hilarious.

Posted by: NatsNut | November 8, 2007 10:10 AM

Re Maxwell, I've been enjoying his journal. Kind of cool to follow him on this latest baseball adventure, and to enjoy along with him this time in his career when there are still plenty of firsts to savor.

J-Max's latest journal entry makes it sound like he's been working on his swing to pull the ball to right more. His strikeouts (at least one per game in AFL) and OBP (just .263) still suggest a severe lack of patience at bat, so I hope he finds some time in what's left of the AFL season to work on that some. (Line since Saturday: .267 / .312 / .333, better than before; but still far, I grant, from the numbers we Nats fans are looking for from our 2008 starting CF.)

Anyway, imagine if Mock wrote that journal. I'm sure AFL imposes space limitations, so his editor's job would be hellish. Meanwhile, if Barry's successor ("Yanda?" I plead) catches cold or something, J-Max might make a most able beat writer, so there's something besides animal science (his course of study at Maryland) to fall back on in the sad event it should come to that.

BTW Mock's last start was Monday, so I'm hoping he'll start Saturday in turn. Should be fun to look forward to.

Posted by: Hendo | November 8, 2007 10:21 AM

"'I hope my locker is next to his.' What professional ballplayer would SAY that???"

I'd expect it from someone who DIDN'T enjoy being interviewed, i.e., the antithesis of Mock.

Mock should be a gas when he gets to Nats Park. On slow news days when Chico's not around, he can tell his locker how to be a better locker, while scribes scribble feverishly away around the corner.

Posted by: Hendo | November 8, 2007 10:28 AM

1) It's hilarious we have some named 'Spin Williams.' That's just awesome.
2) Hendo, I'm sure if someone mentions it to Steinbog, Mock will become his new favorite athlete. I can just picture it now.

Posted by: Atlanta | November 8, 2007 10:35 AM

I wonder what the Philly trade for Lidge says about Cordero and/or Rauch's trade value?

I'm still not sure what the Renteria trade says about value for Middle Infielders...

The big problem, as always, is determining the relative value of your pieces (or those your looking to pick up) vs those already traded. What is Tejada's worth vs Renteria? What is Cordero's value vs Lidge?

I'm also not too happy about us being interested in Rocco Baldelli, what would we have to give up to get an oft injured .767 CFer? He'd make a nice platoon with Church in CF IF we were willing to platoon that spot, assuming he'd be healthy enough to play anyway...

Personally I'd rather see us try to get Andruw Jones on the cheap (comparitively anyway) or on the short (anything from 3-5 years would be a great move since Rowand and Hunter will probably require 7+ years), and have J-Max and Church as stopgaps/fallback if that deal won't work.

And hell, if we're going to do an outfielder trade with Tampa Bay, why not go all out and get Carl Crawford? With us picking up WMP we already have the potential "Big Bopper" power hitter, what we need is either a leadoff hitter or even better a great number 2 hitter who can drive someone in, produce runs with his legs, but most importantly get on base and let Zim, WMP, NJ/DY and Kearns rack up RBIs...

Posted by: estuartj | November 8, 2007 10:48 AM

i've read that maxwell profiles as a mike cameron type (another ex-red; bowden trade griffey = cameron, + others). very toolsy, stud athlete.

that's nice for fantasy baseball but not someone you can count on building around longterm. still, 20 steals with 20 homers and plus defense potential is fine by me. i'll accept a .250 ave with that and 80 walks if he is hitting 7th. just cut back on the strikeouts and work the count. if we force and expect and need him hitting 2nd or 5th we are in trouble.

also sounds like marrero IS going to be the projected first baseman. now i'm happy.

I like Mock already. I think Bowden has done a great job here. Are we actually ahead of schedule and filling the pipeline?!?!

Posted by: longterm | November 8, 2007 11:07 AM

are we really going after Rocco? I think that would be great buy low move. He's a legit CF. top shelf potential here. injury concern type. but a real top of the order man. a legit leadoff hitter helps everyone in the lineup.

CFrocco
2bfelipe
3bzimm
1bNJ/dmitri
LFwily
RFkearns
SSguz
CSchneids/flores
PHbelliard/dmitri

Posted by: longterm | November 8, 2007 11:13 AM

Does anyone else think the escalations on Rocco's contract are odd? He's getting 2.2 mil this year and the 6 and 8 mil the next two (or something close to that). If we did trade for him we should get some cash from TB for those years...

Posted by: estuartj | November 8, 2007 11:27 AM

Barry has a new post up. He's dealing today...

Posted by: natsfan1a | November 8, 2007 11:29 AM

"And why didn't Flores go to Arizona as originally planned?"
---------

I think he's playing in his native Venezuela, right?

As for Mock's talkativeness, what's he trying to do, channel Curt Schilling? :-)

Posted by: Juan-John | November 8, 2007 12:12 PM

You want to understand the Renteria deal? The Lidge deal? Why TB won't be sending cash with Rocco?

Look at the contracts.

Philly got one year (at about $6m) of Lidge while the Astros got three players that will be cost controlled for four years.

Atlanta got rid of Renteria's $18m over the next two years and got a SP prospect. In baseball terms, the Tigers made out. In financial terms, it made sense for both sides.

If you can take on salary, you can make lopsided baseball trades.

Posted by: Bean Counter | November 8, 2007 12:51 PM

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