{"id":54065,"date":"2022-03-24T23:00:04","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T03:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=54065"},"modified":"2022-03-25T02:33:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T06:33:45","slug":"j-b-wendelken-brings-diamondbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2022\/03\/24\/j-b-wendelken-brings-diamondbacks\/","title":{"rendered":"J.B. Wendelken and What He Brings to the Diamondbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

J.B. Wendelken<\/strong> Brings Effective Relief to the Diamondbacks<\/h2>\n

The 2021 Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> season saw several mid-season acquisitions. One of their best pickups was right-handed reliever J.B. Wendelken, who was designated for assignment by the Oakland Athletics<\/a>. The Diamondbacks picked him up off the waiver wire on August 11, and Wendelken quickly became a trusted late-inning fixture.<\/p>\n

J.B. Wendelken was one of the few bright spots in the 2021 Diamondbacks relief corps, pitching dependably in the back end. In 20 appearances, Wendelken pitched 15 scoreless outings<\/a> \u2014 a 75% Scoreless Outing Percentage, almost six percentage points higher than the NL average of 69.4%. His WHIP across his 18 2\/3 innings was a respectable 1.286, and he had the best goose egg<\/a> to broken egg ratio on the team, 8.0 to 1. In addition, he had a 1.440 average leverage index, second on the team to the now-departed Tyler Clippard. Since Clippard was injured for almost all of Wendelken\u2019s stint with the team, this means that the Diamondbacks turned to Wendelken in the situations with the highest pressure.<\/p>\n

For a team that needed help in multiple areas, Wendelken was a godsend. Most relievers end up specializing in one area, whether it be long relief, middle relief, seventh-inning setup, eighth-inning setup, or closer. Wendelken had all of those roles during his time in Oakland. \u201cI was the long guy, setup guy, the third man, I was kind of all over the place,\u201d Wendelken said. \u201cWhatever was hot that day. And if guys were down, I\u2019d fill in spots. It seemed like my role was to be as versatile as possible. If someone needs me to go three innings, I\u2019ll rock that three.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI Wasn\u2019t Providing That Service\u201d<\/h3>\n

J.B. Wendelken played a role in getting the Athletics into the playoffs in 2020. In the Wild Card Round against the Chicago White Sox, Wendelken was lights-out, allowing no runs on one hit in 3 2\/3 innings. He struggled against the Houston Astros in the Division Series, allowing six runs (two earned) on four hits in one inning across two appearances. \u201c(The) wheels fell off \u2014 four singles in a row,\u201d he said. \u201cThat started (my) downfall, but it\u2019s the playoffs. Guys are on their P\u2019s and Q\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Athletics in 2021, Wendelken didn\u2019t have any nightmarish outings, but he had several outings where he gave up one run. July was a particularly rough month for him, giving up a run or more in six of his ten outings. \u201cIt accumulated to where I was throwing 30, 40 pitches and couldn\u2019t go the next day if they needed me. They needed long relief, and I wasn’t providing that service at the time for them. So I understand why (they DFAed me).\u201d<\/p>\n

J.B. Wendelken Joins the Diamondbacks<\/h3>\n

That was August 10. One day later, the Diamondbacks came calling. How did Wendelken feel? \u201cExcited,\u201d he replied. \u201cI was ecstatic to get a job again and go out there and actually just pitch, to be honest with you. It was a while since I (had last thrown). So when I got met up with the D-Backs, after I got DFAed, they said, \u2018Hey, we want you to be yourself. Go back to being you.\u2019 Then I felt like I hit a groove there. I was thinking, \u2018I can trust myself again. I’m not trying to be perfect and doing all the little things right. I\u2019ll just throw the ball and see what happens.\u2019 And I hit a good stretch there to where I felt pretty good about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wendelken\u2019s 4.34 ERA was, adjusted for Chase Field\u2019s Park Factor, higher than the NL average. However, he only pitched 18 2\/3 innings, so that was deceptively high. Two pitches made his ERA jump from 2.30 to 4.34 \u2014 a three-run home run in Denver (welcome to the club) and a two-run homer in Seattle. \u201cIt was like, \u2018Come on, man!\u2019\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

And with the off-season additions of Ian Kennedy to do eighth-inning setup and Mark Melancon to pitch the ninth, Wendelken\u2019s versatility will be an asset. Now he will most likely pitch in the sixth or seventh inning. It doesn\u2019t matter to him, though. He said in late 2021 that he just wants to be in the game. He\u2019ll do whatever the team asks him to do.<\/p>\n

Maturing<\/h3>\n

This mindset is a result of maturity, something that his experience in and while leaving Oakland forced him to do. Wendelken said that, in Oakland, \u201cI matured as much as I could. From them getting rid of me, I realized that your job is not safe. You\u2019ve got to work hard at every turn. So it’s one of those things where you stay true to yourself, but you also need to get better every single day. Someone’s always after your job, so you\u2019ve always got to keep going.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems repetitive, because we all say that, but that’s the gosh-honest truth. Between everything you’ll hear any of us say, someone’s always right behind you. So you do you can sit either around and be lazy or you can work your tail off to get to where you need to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working one\u2019s tail off can lead to pressing, or trying too hard to be successful. When a player presses, his performance suffers. Wendelken understands the balance. \u201cThere’s a fine line you got to walk. You can’t put that much pressure on yourself. The game is still at the same speed. I\u2019ve thrown many, many innings, and literally nothing changes. It\u2019s just a different hitter in the box and a different day. You have to keep that mentality that you’re going to punch out everybody you face, and when things get a little dicey, you\u2019ve got to figure your way out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

J.B. Wendelken Discusses the Challenge of Relieving<\/h3>\n

Being a reliever is a huge challenge. Starters usually have time to recover from a rough inning. Relievers sometimes don\u2019t have enough time to recover from a bad at-bat, since they pitch so late in the game. But that is only the beginning, according to Wendelken. \u201cIt’s always a bigger challenge being a reliever. You don’t get your five days of rest. But there’s always a thing. Starters get five days of rest, but they have to throw six or seven innings. We (relievers) never know when we’re going to pitch, but we\u2019ve got to be ready, and be ready to go pretty quick. Then (we have to) get out there and do our job (as if) we had five days of rest. It\u2019s just all mentality.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you have to be ready to go at all times. Is it easier than starting? Absolutely not. Is it easier than hitting? Absolutely not. Can you compare them all to be about the same amount of toughness? You can. There are arguments all around the board.\u201d Simply being a baseball player is tough. When compared to other sports, \u201cbaseball is the hardest thing ever. It\u2019s an individual sport based off perfection. (When) you\u2019re not perfect, somebody will let you know that you’re not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pick Up Your Next Guy<\/h3>\n

When relievers give up a game-tying or game-winning run late in the game, no one feels worse than they do. J.B. Wendelken shared what the other relievers do in that situation. \u201cAll we can do is (this). When you come in, you have to pick your next guy up. When you inherit runners, you don’t let them score. That\u2019s the main goal. You don’t let somebody get around the bases. That’s the main goal every time. But picking each other up \u2014they already know we have their backs out there, no matter what happens. All we can do is wait on our turn to be called and roll out there. And when we do, not let them get another foot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Main Photo:<\/h4>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>