Conlon Carries Irish Heritage With Pride

COLUMBIA, S.C.—P.J. Conlon was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the height of the ethno-nationalist conflict commonly known as The Troubles that threw that country into decades-long unrest. Wanting to escape the turmoil, Conlon’s parents relocated to Southern California in 1995 when Conlon was 2.

Even though he has returned to his native land only once for a visit, Conlon still takes great pride in being Irish. The Mets lefthander knows full well that he could someday be the first native Irishman to pitch in the major leagues in more than 70 years.

“That puts it in perspective,” Conlon said. “Kind of a cool thing.”

Conlon was a 13th-round pick last June out of San Diego, and then made a splash last summer in his pro debut, not allowing an earned run in 17 relief appearances for short-season Brooklyn. He gave up just eight hits, walked two and struck out 25.

Conlon was a starter in college, so the Mets decided to stretch him this year at low Class A Columbia and he excelled. Conlon was 8-1, 1.84 for the new Fireflies franchise before being promoted to high Class A St. Lucie in June.

The high point in Columbia came on June 4 when Conlon took a no-hitter into the seventh against Hagerstown (Nationals) and ended up working 10 scoreless innings in a game Columbia eventually lost 2-1 in 12 innings. Conlon was efficient that night, needing just 97 pitches to complete 10 innings.

Conlon is hardly an imposing figure on the mound, either in stature or with his velocity. He is listed at 6-foot, 175 pounds and his fastball sits in the low 90s. But his unusual delivery, which is violent in nature, and his ability to throw four pitches effectively make for comparisons to former Mets lefthander Bobby Ojeda.

“I’m not too intimidating,” Conlon admitted. “I’m on the shorter side for pitchers. … I’ve got good velocity, and just try to mix speeds and keep guys off balance. If I go six innings and get zero strikeouts but keep them off the board, then I’m just as happy with that if I go out there and get 10 strikeouts.”

Jonathan Hurst, Columbia’s pitching coach, has worked to help Conlon make the transition from the bullpen to starter. That meant transitioning from being a max-effort reliever to a “calmed down” starter, so Conlon can pitch deeper into games. Aside from being limited by a pitch count in his first start, Conlon pitched at least six innings in each of his next eight starts.

Conlon also has worked to keep from falling off the mound on his follow through, and that has enabled him to both keep the ball down in the strike zone and repeat his delivery more consistently.

“I tell guys all the time, work with what you have, just like a hitter. You’re not going to hit the ball out of the ballpark, so use the whole field,” Hurst said. “That’s what he does as a pitcher, he uses all his pitches. … He knows his identity and he has to know who he is when he gets out there.”

Should that take him to the big leagues, Conlon would be the 46th native Irishman to wear a major league uniform. Of those, 35 were early immigrants to the United States who played before 1900. The last Ireland-born player to appear in a significant number of games was infielder Jimmy Archer, mostly for the Cubs, from 1904 to 1918.

Then there was Joseph “The Fire” Cleary, who made one appearance for the Washington Senators on Aug. 4, 1945. Cleary apparently ignited a fire in that outing, getting one out while allowing seven earned runs. The last Irish-born major-leaguer, Cleary departed the game and the big leagues with a 189.00 ERA.

Today, Conlon retains dual citizenship and could pitch for the Irish National Team in world competition, but also has the option of playing for Great Britain this September in a world qualifier in Brooklyn.

Beyond that, Conlon wants to carry the flag for his country into the majors.