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| Kevin Pucetas in action for Fresno last season (Photo courtesy of: Dave Nelson) |
Pucetas came in from the bullpen last night because the Storm Chasers have too many starters right now and they are piggybacking a few of them.
Storm Chaser broadcaster Mark Nasser interviewed Pucetas before the game this afternoon in Albuquerque. Given that Pucetas had 116 starts in his career, Nasser asked him what it was like to come in from the bullpen rather than start.
“I just treated it like a start,” Pucetas said to Nasser. “I just wanted to try to control my effort level a little bit – just go out there, keep the game close and give us a chance.”
Albuquerque is known as an offensive ballpark and that can sometimes psych out a pitcher before he ever takes the mound, but Pucetas said he knew what to expect.
“It’s probably my third time throwing in Albuquerque, so I’ve been here before,” Pucetas said. “I know what to expect. The big thing for me that I’ve learned over the years is just to try to locate your pitches here. Don’t try and force the ball to move or break because that’s where you start to get into trouble with a lot of your stuff. I did a good job of that yesterday, coming into the game, and man it feels good to get that first one out of the way.”
Pucetas spent five years in the San Francisco Giants system before being traded. And he was traded just before the Giants went on to win the World Series, but he seems exited to be in the Kansas City organization.
“Yeah, I’ll tell you what – it’s been a whirlwind,” Pucetas said. “It’s tough getting dealt in the off-season, especially – I get dealt watching the Giants going on to win the World Series. That’s kind of tough, going from a class organization to another class organization with the Royals.
“I mean they’ve been great as far as treating me well and I really like the rapport they have with players. The coaching staff here in Omaha has been great. I’ll tell you what – this is shaping up to be one of the most fun experiences I’ve had in baseball. We’ve got a great team – very young, energetic. Everyone wants to learn. Everyone wants to go out and play hard and really stick it to these guys at the Triple-A level and that’s really exciting.”
Nasser pointed out the unbelievable 48-20 record Pucetas has accumulated in his six year career so far and that prompted a response old school baseball fans will appreciate.
“I really do pride myself on going deep into games – not just throwing five innings to qualify for a decision,” Pucetas said. “The sixth, seventh, eighth inning is where a lot of games are decided and if you can shorten the game up and make it easier on your bullpen it certainly helps to win games and to string some wins together.
“I really take pride on having that kind of effort every time out and being aggressive – throwing a lot of strikes to keep my defense on their toes.”
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Thanks to Mark Nasser and the Omaha Storm Chasers for permission to use portions of Nasser's interview with Pucetas.
