FORT MYERS, Fla. — Justin Slaten is in the same position this spring training as Garrett Whitlock was in 2021.
Like Whitlock, he’s a hard-throwing right-handed Rule 5 Draft pick needing to win a job in his first ever big league camp. Whitlock had never pitched above Double A when he made the Red Sox’ 2021 roster. Slaten, who spent most of last season in Double A, has logged just 8 ⅓ innings at Triple A.
“It looks electric,” Whitlock said about Slaten’s stuff after watching him throw a bullpen. “He looks like a way different guy than me. Four-seam ride and then a hard slider. So his stuff looks good. I haven’t seen him against hitters but I’m excited to watch him.”
Slaten’s Rule 5 status means he must remain on the active roster for the entire regular season (barring an IL stint) or be returned to his previous club for $50,000.
“I mostly told him to be himself and enjoy it,” Whitlock said. “I told him, ‘When I came in, it was my first big league spring training and I got to enjoy the process.’ And to know that no matter what, you have this experience and you’ve got the stuff so just trust it.”
Slaten, who’s listed at 6-foot-4, 222 pounds, posted a 2.87 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, .206 batting average against, 86 strikeouts and 20 walks in 59 ⅔ innings (40 appearances, one start) last season at Double A and Triple A combined.
“Garrett’s been great,” Slaten said. “When I was able to first meet him (at Winter Weekend in January), he immediately brought up the fact that he was also a Rule 5 guy so we had a little bit of a connection there. So it was cool of him to just share that. And just obviously looking at the success that he’s had, I think not only I feel good about it but the organization feels good about it knowing they have had somebody in the same position already and it’s turned out to be a success. They feel very confident that they know how to handle this situation and that just makes me feel more confident going into spring training.”
While Whitlock is known for his hard sinker, Slaten throws a four-seam fastball up in the zone. The 2019 third round pick out of New Mexico threw 62 four-seamers in his five Triple-A outings (8.1 innings) last season, topping out at 98.3 mph and never throwing one below 94.1 mph. His average four-seam velo was 96.1 mph or faster in four of his five outings.
“I’d say for me, it’s the best when it’s playing up in the zone because it just opens up everything else,” Slaten said. “If I’m consistently throwing the fastball up, right at the top, that’s gonna make the cutter play better, the slider play better and the curveball play better. So that’s just kind of a general thing for me. When I can get the fastball up, I know that all of my other stuff is going to do better.”
Slaten also throws a cutter, curveball and slider.
“I feel comfortable throwing all of them to any batter right now,” Slaten said. “To me, I think it’s just trying to break tendencies as far as if I get a guy to 0-2, I’m not always throwing a slider, I’m not always trying to throw a fastball up or a curveball. I think it’s good to have those pitches, especially feeling confident with them so I know I can throw them in any count at any time to any batter.”
He throws his slider more often than the curveball.
“(The slider) has big turn to the left,” he said. “And it’s been the pitch I’ve thrown my entire life. So I would say I’ve always thrown the slider more. The curveball is a relatively new pitch. I’ve been throwing it for a couple years but it’s never been one of my main pitches until this past year. And so this past year, I started throwing it a little bit more. I’ve thrown both in the mid-80s; the curveball more lowish like 82, 83 and then the slider will get up to 86, 87. But really the difference is the curveball has a ton of depth. It’s up and then it’s straight down. The slider I feel like does a good job of staying on plane kind of looking the same as a fastball before breaking left.”
BetMGM BET $5, GET $158! BONUS BETS
STATES: MA, KY, AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21 years of age or older to wager. MA Only. New Customer Offer. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Rewards issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets. Bonus bets expire 7 days from issuance. In Partnership with MGM Springfield. Play it smart from the start with GameSense. GameSenseMA.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org.
He began throwing his slider in high school.
“I changed the grip multiple times in college just to try to make it as effective as possible,” he said. “It was a pitch I started throwing when I was in high school and it was just easier for me to throw than the curveball.”
He said he tries not to worry about fastball velocity.
“I know that the metrics of the pitch are going to play no matter what,” he said. “Last year, I threw it at times at the beginning of the season coming out of spring training at about 5, 6 (95-96 mph). Towards the end of the year, I’d be 7, 8 and then I touched a 9 toward the end of the year. So for me, I just know that if I can get the fastball to the top of the zone, even if it’s 94, anywhere between 94-98, it’s going to play for me.”
Like Whitlock, Slaten seems pretty laid back.
“I’m a pretty low-key guy,” he said. “I like to just show up to the field, go to work. I like to be around the guys, have fun. I’m very competitive. Love to play a lot of card games, board games back home.”
