DUNEDIN, Fla. -- David Purcey has too good an arm to waste.
In an effort to resurrect Purcey's career and to get some return on their No. 1 pick in the 2004 June free agent draft, pitching coach Bruce Walton has stripped the left-hander down to the core.
Walton has cut Purcey down to two pitches -- his four-seam fastball and a slider, a pitch that last year was rarely found on his resume.
Thrown into the trash are Purcey's inconsistent curve and inconsistent changeup, two pitches he couldn't throw for strikes even at the best of times.
"If you can master two pitches it's better than having an okay three," was how Walton phrased the new philosophy. "Being okay at the major league level just doesn't work. Mastering two pitches works."
It was an easy solution for Walton to arrive at, given Purcey's inconsistencies.
"The first thing that stood out for me was we were working on four pitches and really only having one when we went into games," Walton said. "We didn't have the curve ball at times, we didn't have the changeup all the time so we were stuck with the fastball and we weren't giving the hitter something to guess at.
"I always liked his slider. I thought it was always a good pitch. He didn't throw it as much because when he started (as a pro) he threw his curveball and he liked to throw his changeup but he never got to the point where his curveball and his changeup were consistent enough to start at the big league level."
He was just too talented to be struggling like he was. Since turning pro in 2004, Purcey has gone 36-36 in 114 minor-league starts with a 4.16 ERA. In parts of two seasons with the Jays, he has started 21 games and won just four against nine losses with a 5.81 ERA. Changes needed to be made.
"All I'm trying to do is build a foundation for David, to let him know that with a fastball and slider, if he keeps keep the arm speed the same, they are two different pitches upon which to build his foundation."
When he masters those, then comes the rest.
"Right now he can get by with those two pitches and the changeup would be the next step," Walton said.
"Then maybe we'd go to a two-seam fastball (which sinks and moves away from a right-handed hitter) for another fastball. So he'd have two fastballs, a slider and then possibly a changeup. That would be my ultimate goal."
If Purcey moves ahead and continues to get left-handers out on a consistent basis, it would help open a spot for him in the bullpen, especially if lefty Jesse Carlson needs surgery on his wonky left knee.
"I still think he can be a starting pitcher and on the other hand when I watched him throw the ball (Monday), things enter your mind," Walton said.
LIFE IN HIS ARM
"He went through those lefties no problem (striking out four of five). I think the goal for David Purcey is to find out who he is and what he's best suited for."
There's a lot of life in Purcey's arm and it is more than strong enough to be used on back-to-back days as a reliever is often called on.
The hope is that by using just the two pitches right now, he will finally get the results.
"Now when he gets in trouble it's a 50-50 guess (by the hitter)," Walton said. "The other thing is his fastball and slider are very similar coming in. It's hard to determine. He's got a late-breaking slider. If you're cheating to get heater and you get slider, you're screwed. If you're sitting slider and it's heater, you're screwed.
"The hitters' swings don't lie and the hitters' swings off Purcey the other day were probably the worst I've seen in a long time."
Once again, less equals more.
MIKE.RUTSEY@SUNMEDIA.CA
