BOSTON — Red Sox rookie Cam Booser struggled with command throughout his minor league career, averaging 6.3 walks per nine innings.
The 32-year-old lefty, who reaches the mid-to-upper 90s with his fastball, averaged 5.1 walks per nine innings (15 walks, 26 ⅔ innings) during the first half of last season for Triple-A Worcester.
Then something clicked a few months into last season, as manager Alex Cora has mentioned multiple times. Booser averaged just 2.6 walks per nine innings (nine walks, 31 innings) during the second half.
So what did he do? What clicked? So many pitchers talk about mastering their mechanics and being able to repeat their deliveries to throw strikes more consistently. Booser sort of did the opposite.
“I think the mechanics always play a part in it,” Booser said. “I think we as baseball players, we tend to get wrapped up in the mechanical side of it too much sometimes. For me, there was a very large jump when I started to focus less on mechanics every day and just try to be more athletic on the mound. And just let whatever mechanics I have, just try to utilize them to the best of my ability rather than trying to change everything about myself. So that helped me a lot.”
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Booser ranks in the 99th percentile in chase percentage (38.8%), 89th percentile in expected ERA (2.72) and 87th percentile in both expected batting average (.205) and whiff percentage (31.8%), per Baseball Savant. He’s also in the 77th percentile in average fastball velo (95.5 mph).
Booser has taken another step forward this year. He struck out 15 while walking just one batter in 6 ⅔ innings during the first month for Worcester before earning a promotion to Boston on April 19. He has averaged 2.1 walks and 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings in 15 outings (17 innings) with the Red Sox.
Booser received a non-roster invitation to spring training and worked with new pitching coach Andrew Bailey who has preached attacking the strike zone. As Nick Pivetta summed it up, “Hitting is extremely hard, even if you’re throwing the ball down the middle.”
“That was one of Bails’ big messages in camp — just throw nasty stuff in the zone,” Booser said. “So just trying to utilize our best weapons in the zone. And get ahead and stay ahead. And when we have the opportunity, try to put guys away. He’s been a huge help for me. Throwing to these catchers has been a huge help for me, trying to learn from the older guys as much as I can. But yeah, just trying to get ahead and stay ahead. Just trying to force strikes down their throat and try to make them uncomfortable with how often we can get ahead.”
Booser turned 32 on May 4. That’s ancient for a rookie. He became the oldest player (excluding players who played in Japan) to make his MLB debut with the Red Sox since Tommy Fine in 1947.
For Booser, it also was a mental approach. He had an important conversation with WooSox manager Chad Tracy during the middle of last season.
“(Tracy) kind of put things in perspective for me,” he said. “Just kind of telling me that you’ve got to be ready every day. You can’t really let the bad ones hang on. I was kind of letting the bad outings hang on a couple days after the fact. So more just changing the mental side of it. It kind of clicked in the game more. I always felt good on the mound. I was just trying to be somebody I wasn’t early in the year. Just trying to be perfect every single time I took the mound.
“So as the year went on, I just realized that there’s a lot of things that are out of your control. And so you’ve just gotta go out there and be the best version of yourself every day and not let the outcomes control who you are. I tried to take that into this year.”
Booser has thrown 71% strikes this season. He threw a perfect sixth inning May 12 in which all seven of his pitches landed for strikes.
“I think the biggest thing is putting up a zero and helping the team get a ‘W,’” he said. “That’s all I’m trying to do every time my name is called on that phone. It’s just to continue to try to earn AC’s trust and help this team win in any way I possibly can. But yeah, it’s always great when you can go out there and be efficient in the strike zone. For me, the most important thing is just trying to get ahead and stay ahead.”
Booser said a full, healthy year at Triple A last year also helped him become a better pitcher.
“It was just throwing more consistently,” Booser said. “I was always hurt when I was younger, always taking time off. So when I finally got an opportunity to play a full season last year, I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about my body and how to withstand the full season. So a message to the younger guys, it would just be to try to learn yourself the best that you can. Don’t always try to be like somebody else. I did that a lot when I was younger. I always tried to see guys on TV and I tried to emulate them. But we’re all different. So just try to learn what weapons you have and utilize it to the best of your ability.”
