Closer or Starter, Ex-Westerner Stinnett Still Dominates
By Don Leypoldt

Maryland senior righty Jake Stinnett is a smart guy.  Smart enough to graduate from high school with a 4.5 GPA.  And smart enough to be an Academic All-ACC selection.

And when the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Stinnett in the 29th round of last year’s Major League Draft, he was smart enough to return to Maryland.

Stinnett is putting up a Spring for the ages.  Through April 9th, Stinnett led the ACC in strikeouts while ranking third in average against (.156).  

On March 1st, Stinnett threw Maryland’s first no-hitter in six years.  The San Diego County native fanned nine UMass Minutemen and walked just two as he clinched the ACC Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week.

Three weeks later, Stinnett became the first ACC hurler to win three Pitcher of the Week citations since 2011.  His 14 strikeouts against then 11th-ranked N.C. State set a new career high.  Stinnett held the Wolfpack to just four hits in the 10-0 shutout.

The UMass and NC State games also earned Stinnett Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week honors.

Danbury Westerner fans- and rivals- have come to expect this kind of dominance.  Despite being primarily a third baseman in his freshman year at Maryland, Stinnett used his sophomore NECBL summer to transition full time to the pitcher’s mound.  His success at Danbury in 2012- in 17.1 innings Stinnett had almost as many saves (five) as hits allowed (six) while posting a 1.55 ERA- validated that decision.

Stinnett recently took time to talk with NECBL.com  

NECBL.com: What sticks out from your summer at Danbury?

Jake Stinnett: “Danbury was one of the best summers I’ve had.  Coach (Jamie) Shevchik and Coach (Sean) Fesh did a great job in helping us play loose yet be competitive out there while learning things throughout the summer.  That is what summer ball is about: improving yourself but also having fun.  The coaching staff did a great job there.  

“We had a lot of good guys on the team.  I was fortunate to have a great host family.  My roommate and I, Jake Gronsky, got along really well.  I was fortunate enough to have had great coaches and great teammates that summer.  I really learned a lot and had fun playing the game.”

NECBL.com: Rogers Park tends to favor hitters.  Did pitching in Danbury force you to make adjustments that perhaps you carried back to school with you?
 
JS: “It’s definitely a hitter friendly ballpark and sometimes, when the pitcher is aware of that, it forces you to focus a lot more.  You can’t make any mistakes because if you do, it can be a home run.  It helped me to focus knowing I had to be more fine with my pitches and maybe use a two-seam fastball rather than a four seamer and to try to get more balls in the ground than in the air.  The two-seam fastball has really helped me out this spring, going back to two summers ago in Danbury.  Maybe that is part of the reason I’ve had success right now, is that I had to use it two summers ago and I started to get a feel for it.”

NECBL.com: You’re still getting your feet wet as a starter, having been a third baseman as a freshman and a closer in your sophomore and part of your junior year.  What things have clicked for you this spring?

JS: “My freshman year, I was a full time third baseman and I only pitched a few innings.  In my sophomore year, I did a little bit of both.  That summer in Danbury, I had to choose one or the other so I could get better and improve myself.  I choose to be a pitcher: I felt that would be the best thing for the team and for my future.  

“I’ve worked hard at pitching.  It was a process of making baby steps day in and day out last year as a full time pitcher.  I would struggle sometimes with my consistency, especially with off speed pitches, or sometimes I would lose my command.  It wasn’t very consistent.  I think that every day, working on pitching for the last year and a half has improved my consistency.  It has helped be more of a pitcher instead of just some guy on the mound with a good arm.”

NECBL.com: Did anything feel different in the bullpen against UMass?  Was that the day you had your best stuff?
 
JS: “I didn’t really feel too much different that day.  I went in with the same plan of attack and the same everything.  My arm and body felt just about the same.  I think the difference might have been my mentality, maybe.  I wanted to go out there and attack every guy, and I was able to consistently do that.  What I mean by that is that all of my pitches were being thrown for strikes and I could pretty much put them where I wanted to.  Sometimes, early in the game, you don’t have a feel for those pitches and sometimes you lose it later in the game.  I had it the entire game- having a feel for everything that day- so that made it a lot easier.  

“But I wouldn’t necessarily say it was my best physical stuff.  I think there are days where I could throw harder or my slider has been better but I do think that that day, overall, everything was more consistent.”

NECBL.com Was it a difficult choice to go back to school after the Pirates selected you last June?

JS: “I think it would have been a difficult choice had I not been preparing for that situation throughout the year.  I had planned on getting drafted.  I had no idea where I was going to go, but I had planned on having the opportunity to play pro ball.  It was a matter of: would I have the opportunity my junior year or maybe get my degree and have the opportunity to play pro ball after that.  That kind of depended on where in the Draft I went.  

“My coaches gave me the percentages and statistics and what it came down is that they thought it would be best that if I didn’t go in the top ten rounds, to come back to school and finish my degree or at least get closer to my degree, and then get a chance to get drafted higher as a senior.  That was my plan the entire time so when the Pirates drafted me in the 29th round, I had a pretty good idea that I was going to back to school to try it again this year.  It was a long process but in the end, it wasn’t that hard of a decision because I had been preparing for it all year long.”  

NECBL.com You’re a Southern California native.  What made you come East to Maryland in the first place?
JS: “In high school, I wasn’t planning on coming out East.  I wanted to stay in California.  There were a decent amount of schools in California looking at me and showing interest.  But I had an injury in my senior Fall and I wouldn’t be pitching for a little while.  A lot of the schools in California backed out and said they wanted to see me pitch.  I knew I probably wasn’t going to pitch for the rest of my high school season so I’d have to figure out something else.  I started dedicating myself to third base and becoming a position player.  

“Coach Sean Kenny- he was the pitching coach at Pepperdine and he saw me at a camp my junior year- ended up moving out to Maryland and being the pitching coach here.  He found out I was uncommitted and asked if I would be interested in coming out for a visit.  I said, “Yeah, sure!”  I wanted to keep all of my options open.  I came out to Maryland and there was something about it: that college feel, the coaching staff, the ACC.  There was something about the place that really drew me in.  I didn’t look back.  I liked the place and I figured I’d get a chance to play so why not?  I have family in Maryland too so its a little bit of a home away from home.”