Guzman, Sanchez ready to prove their worth on the mound
<a href=miva.jacksonsun.com>Jacksonsun.com By KARY BOOHER kbooher@jacksonsun.com Apr 3 2003
MESA, Ariz. - Four years ago, right-hander Angel Guzman, all of 17 years old back then in Venezuela, got dumped from professional baseball.
The Kansas City Royals voided his contract and sent him on his way.
"I think they believed that I was afraid to play pro baseball," Guzman said. "They were wrong, as you see. That's made me hungry to get better. I think I've changed their minds."
He talks about this with a smile, even rubbing his tummy to show that he in deed is hungry to prove his doubters wrong.
It appears he is.
Guzman, along with lefty closer Felix Sanchez, are quickly rising through the Chicago Cubs' farm system and will start the season with their Double-A club, the Diamond Jaxx. They are the big names on the staff, accompanied somewhat with the rhetoric that followed rookie sensation Mark Prior, the big kahuna of the Jaxx's rotation at this time last season.
Guzman is coming off a year in which he was 11-4 with a 2.19 ERA at both of the Cubs' Single-A clubs. Sanchez, armed with mid-90s fastball, struck out 101 batters in 119 innings at Low-A Lansing.
And while Prior got everybody talking at big-league camp last year, Guzman and Sanchez did so this spring. Guzman had a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings as a non-roster invitee, and Sanchez, who is on the 40-man roster, had a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings.
Few expected such results.
"Those guys have been great. You are really going to like those guys," new Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "They have good arms, they have good poise. For young players, probably the most difficult thing to develop is the poise and quiet confidence in your ability. These guys are pitching like they have been here a while."
Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild also said he was impressed with their poise and wouldn't rule out a promotion for the pair to the big leagues at some point this season.
He called Guzman, "One of the most impressive youngsters I've seen in spring training."
"I don't think you could look for any more poise in a young pitcher," Rothschild said. "He's already got command of three pitches. And he has tremendous command of his fastball. I think you are going to have fun watching him."
Guzman is 21-6 with a 2.17 ERA in 265 minor-league innings since he signed with the Cubs organization in November 1999.
His fastball is sharp, but Guzman's curveball is most impressive. Rothschild said it needs to be tightened a little more, but not much more.
"I'm going to try to do the same thing I've been doing, keep working hard and throw my pitches," Guzman said.
His potential is interesting because now in Double-A he'll work with Jaxx pitching coach Alan Dunn, considered invaluable in the organization. Two Jaxx pitchers have won the Southern League's ERA title in the past five years under Dunn's guidance, and another, Matt Bruback, came close to doing so last season.
Sanchez is expected to take over the role that Francis Beltran had last season. Beltran made 23 saves for the Jaxx and was promoted to Chicago three different times. Sanchez showed Rothschild good arm strength. He'll need to develop second and third pitches, especially the curve.
He has a 90-plus fastball.
"He's got a good arm," Dunn said. "You'll see (the curve), but it's just a matter of using it. It's a matter of getting the confidence in it to throw it. It's just a maturing process. He's definitely got the potential."
- Kary Booher, 425-9637