Friday, February 18, 2000
Tomko ready for new start in Seattle
The Associated Press
PEORIA, Ariz. — Brett Tomko is feeling pressure as the Seattle Mariners open spring training — and not because he was traded for Ken Griffey Jr.
Tomko is anxious to prove he's the pitcher who won 24 games during his first two seasons, not the one who went 5-7 with a 4.92 ERA for Cincinnati last year.
“I could never get it going,” Tomko said Thursday. “Even when I did get it going halfway through the season, I couldn't catch a break. We weren't scoring any runs. I was throwing the ball real well and couldn't get a win.”
Tomko, drafted by Cincinnati out of Florida Southern in 1995, was called up to the Reds midway through the 1997 season and went 11-7 with a 3.43 ERA.
He went 13-12 with a 4.48 ERA in 1998 to become the first Reds pitcher to win 11 or more games his first two seasons since Art Fowler in 1954-55.
But last year, Tomko lasted just 3 2-3 innings on opening day, allowing six runs against the Giants. Eventually, the 26-year-old right-hander was sent down to the minors.
Reds officials thought the time Tomko had spent with Philadelphia Phillies ace Curt Schilling on an offseason tour of Japan stunted his development. Tomko disagreed.
“It was a lot of talk and it was all blown out of proportion,” Tomko said. “Then when they publicly spanked me by sending me down, when I came back up I was trying to do too much. I was trying to be everyone all at once. I wasn't just trying to throw strikes and get guys out, I was trying to do what other people wanted me to do.”
Tomko, sent to Seattle along with outfielder Mike Cameron and a pair of minor-leaguers for Griffey, should have fewer such problems in Seattle.
“Mechanics are overblown,” Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. “You've got to be confident, be aggressive and throw strikes. If you've got good stuff to go with it, the results will be there for you. And he's got good stuff. He's the type of pitcher that with exposure and maturity, he can be a top of the rotation pitcher.”
Tomko arrived at the Mariners' training facility Tuesday and has spent most of his time getting to know his new teammates.
“I'm coming to a new place and after last year, I'm getting a new start,” Tomko said. “But I'm also leaving the only place I ever knew. It's a scary feeling. But the first day I came here, everybody treated me like I had been here three or four years.”
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