Krook Trying To Get Back On Track

EUGENE, Ore.—Let there be no doubt: Oregon’s Matt Krook is one of the most talented lefthanders available in this year’s draft. He ranked No. 18 on the Top 100 draft prospects list in March and was slotted into the middle of what, on paper, had the potential to be one of college baseball’s best rotations.

At his best, Krook sports a four-pitch mix with a low-to-mid-90s fastball with natural sink and tail away from righthanded hitters, and he complements it with a wipeout curveball, hard slider and a changeup that can get swings and misses.

“His fastball has magic life,” one scout said of Krook. “There are times he has three plus pitches, but the life on the fastball has always given him some control issues.”

Krook hasn’t been at his best in a long while. He failed his postdraft physical with the Marlins after drafted him 35th overall in the 2013 draft of St. Ignatius High in San Francisco. Picked in between new major leaguers Sean Manaea and Aaron Blair, Krook was the second-highest unsigned selection in the class, behind Phil Bickford.

The issues the Marlins saw in their physical ended up biting the Ducks the next year, when Krook tore his UCL and required Tommy John surgery that kept him out for all of the 2015 season. He made his return with Wareham of the Cape Cod League, where he struck out 15 in 11 innings, and then earned electric reviews for his work during fall scrimmages.

This season, aside from a few early gems, hasn’t been as kind to Krook. In 46 2/3 innings over 11 starts, the lefthander had allowed just 31 hits and punched out 60, but had also issued 48 walks and hit 11 batters. That includes Monday’s outing in which he walked seven in just 2 2/3 innings against Gonzaga.

His command abandoned him in April. He didn’t record an out in the third inning of his 10th and 11th starts and allowed six walks apiece in the two outings. In his most recent start, April 29 at home against Washington State, his stuff took a step back, too.

He worked primarily with a mix of fastballs and cutters that checked in between 87-91 mph and peaked at 93. His four-seam fastball was extremely lively and showed plenty of of sink and tail away from righthanders. His curveball was well below-average, a rolling offering in the low-70s without bite.

And with the lack of stuff and results has come a lack of confidence. Krook himself said he hasn’t felt mentally right since before his outing at Mississippi State on March 12, when he was burned for five earned runs on two hits, five walks and a hit batter while recording just two outs.

“I was feeling good coming into the season, and then I went down to Mississippi State and had an outing where I just couldn’t throw strikes,” he said. “From there, it was just kind of mental. I was just like, ‘Shoot, I can’t find it,’ and started losing confidence in myself and that’s kind of led to this deal that I’m at right now, where I try to find a balance between throwing strikes and throwing strikes with conviction.”

Can’t Get Right

That last point from Krook is key, because although the results weren’t pretty against Washington State, it wasn’t because he couldn’t find the strike zone. Rather, he just didn’t find the right parts of the strike zone. Krook walked just one and hit two batters, but most of his damage came on the five singles he allowed. His hardest fastball of the day, at 93 mph, was smacked up the middle. Oregon coach George Horton agreed that most of Krook’s problems are being generated between his ears.

“I think it’s become a mental issue with Matty and he’s addressing it like no other guy I’ve ever had,” Horton said. “He constantly wants to throw and get the rhythm and get the feel. Between myself and the other guys that are working with the pitchers trying to help him through it.

“He was exaggerated at UCLA with his breath and his rhythm and his tempo and was fighting it . . . Again, he’s trying to work through it like nobody I’ve ever seen before. He’ll get it. One of these days he’s going to be a tremendous pitcher and he’ll pitch in the big leagues, and we’d like him (to pitch that way) here, and so would he.”

The compounding factor in Krook’s struggles has been the role they’ve played on the Ducks’ overall success. At 21-17 overall, the team has not lived up to its lofty expectations  —and that’s certainly not all on Krook—but the team remained in contention for a Pacific-12 Conference title.

In a three-way tie with Arizona and Arizona State for fifth in the league with a 9-9 league mark, Oregon was two games behind Utah and Washington’s lead with a month to go. The road to the top is tough but not impassable. To get there, though, the Ducks need everybody’s best over their final four conference series, and Krook hasn’t delivered.

After the loss to Washington State, Horton said the team was weighing its options and that removing Krook from the rotation was a real possibility. The coach has moved the Ducks’ trio of lefty starters—Krook, redshirt junior Cole Irvin and sophomore David Peterson—around to find the right mix.

“Krook continues to not get off to good starts, so we’ll have to evaluate whether that’s the right thing to do with him,” Horton said. “I don’t want to sound like I’ve given up on Matt Krook, because I haven’t, but he’s got to get off to a better start.”

In addition to trying to help boost the Ducks, recovering his old form would go a long way toward re-establishing his stock for this year’s draft. Horton has been through this plenty of times over his coaching career, and he’s well aware of all the stressors currently affecting his redshirt sophomore.

“If we talk about pressure or a monkey on his back, he’s got a gorilla on his back. He’s got his own mind and a lot of voices and a lot of fixers and he’s got some pressure. I would say his No. 1 priority is the team, that’s what I think of Matt Krook,” Horton said. “Secondly, he’s down on himself and trying too hard himself, and I think the draft is a big part of it, although he’s got an extra bargaining year because of a redshirt. I think the draft is a big part of any college athlete’s life when they’re draft-eligible.”

Krook, of course, wants to get back on the right track and to solidify his place in the rotation going forth. To do so, as Horton said, he’s gone to great lengths to right himself and pitch like he knows he’s capable.

“I’ve tried to make my bullpens more competitive and basically all I can do is when I get out there is just not think about anything other than trying to fill up the strike zone,” he said. “I’ve been getting hitters in there (during my bullpens) and sometimes throwing out of the bullpen in the middle of the week, just trying to make everything more competitive.”

Beyond that, he’s supplemented physical work with mental exercises, as prescribed by Dr. Ken Ravizza, the mental conditioning coach who also worked with Horton during his time with Cal State Fullerton, and worked with him during the team’s road series at UCLA.

“He gave us some drills, some breathing exercises to help calm him down and really take it one pitch at a time,” pitching coach Mitch Karraker said. “A lot of times if a pitch goes bad, he’ll be holding on to that pitch for the next couple of pitches and that kind of affects how you pitch.”

Krook has made one relief appearance this year, in a midweek game against Portland. Part of the reason was because his scheduled turn against Michigan State the weekend prior had been cancelled because of snow. The staff also hoped that he’d find something in a shorter burst that would he could carry into his next turn in the rotation.

Horton, Karraker and Krook all know the premium stuff is still in there. They’ve seen it too many times on the recruiting trail, in his freshman year, in the fall and in the early portion of this year to believe it’s evaporated and is gone for good.