DUNEDIN, Fla. — There is just so much kid in Kyle Drabek that it’s almost infectious.
About a half hour before the start of Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia, Drabek came bouncing into the Jays clubhouse, excitement registering over his face.
“Am I starting today?” he enquired to everybody and nobody at the same time. “Lance (Broadway) told me I’m starting and I can’t find Papi (pitching coach Bruce Walton).”
Broadway was originally scheduled to make the start with Drabek the second Jays pitcher of the day.
The Jays, though, decided to give Drabek the start instead but the message took a while to filter down.
Philadelphia, of course, is the 22-year-old Drabek’s former team and he had been tabbed as the organization’s top pitching prospect prior to the big deal that sent the Phillies Roy Halladay.
Drabek was the top prize of the three players that went the other way.
So it was a delighted Drabek who got to start it off for his new team against his old team and top lefty Cole Hamels.
“I got someone to call Papi to see if I was (starting) and he told me I was and I enjoyed it,” said Drabek, who in his two innings allowed no runs, one hit and one walk. “Definitely going out there first it was a lot of fun, especially going against the Phillies.”
The day before, Drabek called his father Doug, a former major-league pitcher for some advice.
“He told me: ‘It’s just another team. Don’t get too excited. Just go out there and pitch. Don’t try and overdo anything.’ That’s what I tried to do.”
So, was it just another team?
“Definitely not,” he said. “Walking out to the mound for the first time I’m looking straight into the Phillies bullpen and I see (Mike) Zagurski and I give him a little wave. I had a lot of fun today.”
Although he definitely was the key prize in the Halladay trade from the Jays perspective, Drabek attempted to play down that angle.
“The other guys that were in it were a huge part of it,” he said of catcher Travis d’Arnaud and outfielder Michael Taylor. “Then we get Wallace (Brett, who was flipped to Oakland for Taylor) who is a great infielder and great hitter. I don’t feel like I was the main reason. I mean everyone was a part in it.”
Drabek is slotted to open the season at double-A New Hampshire but the feeling is he’s coming with a rush.
“This kid is not far away from being with this club,” manager Cito Gaston said.
Roster report
On Wednesday, the Jays optioned RHP Rob Ray and LHP Luis Perez to triple-A Las Vegas and re-assigned C Brian Jeroloman and OF Adam Loewen to minor-league camp. The Jays still have an unwieldy 27 pitchers in camp.
mike.rutsey@sunmedia.ca
