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Journey long but hardening

Path through hardships makes Sleeth stronger

Jack Etkin, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 16, 2007 at midnight

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LAKELAND, Fla. - At long last, things are happily different for Kyle Sleeth.

He was in camp with the Detroit Tigers last year, concentrating on rehabilitation, waiting to pitch to get his career, which began with so much fanfare, back on track.

It would be June before Sleeth, who went to Northglenn High School, made his 2006 debut only to discover he still was dealing with the effects of reconstructive elbow surgery. This spring training, there is an all-systems-go approach for Sleeth, 25, whose medical problems are in the past.

"I am very pleased with his persona at this point and the way he has been going about his business," said Jon Matlack, Detroit's minor league pitching coordinator. "And I am cautiously optimistic going into the season that everything's going to be OK. He was a guy that was off in limbo and now all of a sudden is resurfacing, and that's great."

Sleeth has yet to establish himself at the Double-A level. And Detroit is far from the threadbare organization it was when Sleeth was drafted third overall in 2003.

Even though Sleeth has lost significant time - he has pitched only 185 innings and 148 were in 2004, his first professional season - he's very much on the Tigers' radar.

"He's got a power arm with power breaking stuff," Detroit general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "Great body, can change speeds and he's a quality prospect. He's plenty young enough to really be in a good spot. He can re-establish himself, move quickly."

Sleeth finally made his Grapefruit League debut last week. In two games, he pitched a combined three scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk with four strikeouts. As expected, his stay in major league camp ended Monday when the Tigers sent him down to Double A Erie (Pa.).

"This is the first year I've been in big league camp where I feel I can compete, I can do something," Sleeth said. "Last year, I felt I was coming in here just to be here. I knew I wasn't going to make an impact on the field.

"But this year, I come in with a newfound confidence. I feel like a different person on the mound. I feel like whatever I had before - my presence on the mound - is back. And I didn't feel I had (it) in previous years."

Detroit gets third pick

Losing 106 games in 2002 brought the Tigers the third pick in the 2003 draft. After Tampa Bay chose outfielder Delmon Young and Milwaukee selected second baseman Rickie Weeks, Sleeth, who went to Wake Forest University, was the first pitcher taken. The Tigers, who were skidding toward 119 losses in 2003, gave Sleeth a $3.35 million signing bonus, confident he wasn't far from the majors.

Sleeth signed in August, too late in 2003 to pitch. He launched his career in 2004 at high Single-A Lakeland (Fla.), where elbow problems surfaced and worsened after a promotion to Erie. Sleeth was unable to open the 2005 season, which officially ended that year when he underwent Tommy John surgery June 9.

It was June 2 last season when Sleeth began his comeback at Lakeland. But a setback caused him to miss nearly a month, then came a rehabilitation assignment before Sleeth rejoined Lakeland. Not that he ever left the Tigers complex there.

Having arrived in Lakeland last year in mid-February to begin spring training, Sleeth still was there when the minor league season ended in early September.

There was a sweltering sameness, a Groundhog Day feel in the low minors for Sleeth while other young players were moving ahead in the organization, even reaching the majors.

"It was really frustrating for me to see people that I know I could compete with having these successes, when I was just kind of staying in the same place right here," Sleeth said. "I thought (I would) make an impact early, but it just didn't happen that way."

Onward, upward

Assuming he continues to pitch well this spring training, Sleeth likely will open the season with Erie. Dombrowski said cold April weather there could cause the Tigers to keep Sleeth at Lakeland as a precaution. He lives in Celebration, Fla., with his wife, Sarah, whom Sleeth married Jan. 14, but he would just as soon leave the state to start the season.

"I want to get out of Florida," Sleeth said. "I've seen enough of Florida. The feeling when I get out of here will be a great feeling, kind of a feeling of accomplishment that I brought myself back to the level that I was."

Namely Erie, after a June 20, 2004, promotion after Sleeth began his professional career 5-4 with a 3.31 ERA in 11 starts at Lakeland and made the midseason Florida State League all-star team. A couple of starts before moving up, Sleeth said, "something didn't feel right" in his right elbow, causing him to "lower my arm slot considerably, almost to the point where I was (throwing) sidearm."

Road to surgery

Sleeth went 4-4 with a 6.30 ERA in 13 starts with Erie, where Sleeth said he continued to throw sidearm without pain but "didn't feel there was a baseball in my hand."

Rest in the offseason didn't help, and when Sleeth started throwing to prepare for the 2005 season, the elbow "just started killing me."

Sleeth went through a pain- filled spring training in 2005, tried two months of rehabilitation and ultimately underwent surgery.

It was June 2, 2005, when he returned to the mound, again for Lakeland. But after two starts, Sleeth returned to the disabled list with a right forearm strain.

Sleeth made five appearances on a rehabilitation assignment in the Rookie Gulf Coast League, going 1-0 with a 3.63 ERA before rejoining Lakeland.

At that point, the comeback trail became steep. Sleeth went 1-3 with a 13.50 ERA in six games (five starts), 18 walks and seven strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings.

"I just could not find a comfortable release point," Sleeth said. "And I had no confidence throwing the ball, no confidence where the ball's coming out of my hand."

Sleeth said his confidence returned toward the end of the Tigers' fall instructional league program. That was when Sleeth again started throwing his curveball, giving him his full complement of four pitches.

"Once I found that consistent release point for throwing a fastball, it kind of translated into everything else," Sleeth said. "The curveball started falling in (place), and the changeup and the slider. Everything was crisp, more sharp. I felt almost like I did when I was in college."

Road to recovery

Matlack, the Tigers' minor league pitching coordinator, said he "teasingly" tells his pitchers that injuries are "a very character-building experience."

But the reality, Matlack said, is it's hard duty for minor league pitchers to show up daily for rehabilitation, watch the days stretch into months and, with competition far down the road, wonder whether they'll be what they once were and be able to compete.

"Kyle has been an absolute trouper through all of this," Matlack said.

"He's done the work. The smile hasn't always been on his face, but it's there a lot more recently. I commend him for the stick-to-itiveness that he has shown through all of this."

Rocky Mountain highs

Only two players raised in Colorado have been drafted higher than Kyle Sleeth, the third pick in 2003 by Detroit.

• Jeff King, selected No. 1 by Pittsburgh in the 1986 draft.

• John Stearns, selected No. 2 by Philadelphia, in the 1973 draft.

Scouting report

Jon Matlack, the Tigers' minor-league pitching coordinator, on Kyle Sleeth:

• His mix: "He's got four pitches. He just put the curveball back in over the winter."

• His stuff: "Both his breaking balls are major league pitches. I think we're going to see him in the 89-92 (mph) range (with his fastball), and it might be a little better than that if the mechanics refine out a little bit."

• What's ahead: "We're not messing with (his mechanics) right now at all. So it's down the road. I told him there's a couple things we want to fine tune and he's all for it."

View from the mound

Tigers closer Todd Jones, on SportingNews. com, gives a pitcher's perspective of Kyle Sleeth's battle to regain his form as a top prospect.

As a pitcher, I don't even like to say this, but here goes: Kyle Sleeth had "The Thing." There. I said it. What's "The Thing"? It's a condition you have when you lose the ability to do something you could do all of your life. With Kyle, a pitcher, "The Thing" was losing his ability to throw strikes. Not physically. Mentally. Kyle Sleeth lost the feel for when to release the ball.

I think "The Thing" is real, and the worst thing you can do is talk about it. But "The Thing" also can be fixed - by starting over. You play catch from 5 feet, then 8, then 10. If you get off-target one day, you stop and try again the next day. Of course, it's almost impossible to not wonder what's going on as you sit in your room at night. Just about every waking minute is spent thinking about "The Thing," even though that's the worst thing you can do.

I'm happy to report that Kyle appears to have made it all the way back. He doesn't want to say he's beaten "The Thing," but he's OK talking about it. I imagine in a way it's like being an addict: You're just trying to get by one day at a time. In Kyle's case, it's one throw at a time.