FORT MYERS, Fla. — After he dealt with nagging back issues for almost all of last season, Jake Odorizzi knew change was inevitable.
Not only did the new Twins pitcher not like how he felt all season long, he didn’t like the impact it had on his performance. Odorizzi set career lows in starts (28), innings (143 1/3) and strikeouts (127) and finished 10-8 with a 4.14 ERA last season.
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This offseason, the pitcher acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night set out to improve his core strength by doing Pilates. With seven bullpen sessions already thrown, Odorizzi feels strong as he attempts to rediscover the form that helped him produce 7.0 f-Wins Above Replacement from 2014-16.
“I’m ready to be a healthy me,” Odorizzi said. “If I’m healthy, I think I can do a pretty decent job.”
Odorizzi entered the 2017 season with an average of just under 31 starts per season from 2014-16. Yet he missed time twice last season with a back strain, first in April before he landed on the disabled list in late July.
Despite dealing with nagging pain, Odorizzi stayed on the mound because he wasn’t experiencing any arm issues. But the former first-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers said the impact was noticeable.
“I was a completely different pitcher,” Odorizzi said. “I made adjustments to compensate for that throughout the season. Looking back, it wasn’t a good idea. At the time, my arm felt good and I had an obligation to take the ball. It’s my job to pitch. I did the best I could.”
Odorizzi saw an increase in walk rate from seven to 10 percent and his home runs allowed per nine innings also increased from 1.15 the previous three seasons to 1.88 in 2017.
But the struggles and back issues are of little concern to the Twins, who think both can be solved.
“We dug into it,” said Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey. “He dealt with a few injuries and things he tried to pitch through. We felt really good about where he was.”
Odorizzi’s performance in September played a large part in dispelling any concerns. The right-hander went 3-1 with a 1.03 ERA with 30 strikeouts and only two home runs allowed in his final 26 1/3 innings of the season. That included 6 2/3 innings of one-hit ball against the Twins in Tampa Bay on Sept. 5.
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But overall, Odorizzi wasn’t happy about his performance.
“It wasn’t good,” Odorizzi said about his season. “I ended up really strong at the end, but I battled through a lot of lingering back issues and pitched the whole year with it.”
Hence the new workout.
Odorizzi isn’t the first pitcher to turn to Pilates, which improves flexibility and builds strength and endurance. Free-agent pitcher Jake Arrieta credited Pilates with helping turn around his career in 2015 when he won the National League Cy Young Award.
Odorizzi is hopeful the core work will pay off and offer him renewed health and less barking from his back. Odorizzi is confident the issues he has experienced have never been serious enough to merit surgery.
Now he’s ready to prove it.
“I changed up my workout routine to strengthen everything,” Odorizzi said. “I feel good. It is not a surgery issue. It was just a nagging thing. I’m good and healthy and ready to handle a full workload.”
(Top image: New Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Twins in a Sept. 5 start late last season. Credit: Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)
