The RoundHouse | 5/20/2021 6:48:00 AM
Aaron Bechtel hits
LJ McDonough with what he calls the "Disappointed Mom" look for errant throws during their session playing catch at practice.
Eyes narrow. Lips tight. Stare.
"That's real," McDonough said. "It's very real."
Bechtel makes McDonough retrieve his misfires. When Bechtel chases an off-target throw, he walks slowly, giving McDonough time to ponder his inaccuracy.
"I would have to go run and get the ball, hopefully before (Mike) Pelfrey saw that I overthrew it, and run it back," McDonough said. "It was bad, man, really bad."
This spring, McDonough is real in a better way as a key piece of the Wichita State bullpen. His scattered throws are largely a thing of the past after pushing by Pelfrey, Shocker pitching coach, met McDonough's willingness to listen and learn.
The Shockers (27-20, 15-12 American Athletic Conference) finish the regular season with a series against last-place Memphis (16-34, 6-22) beginning with a Thursday doubleheader (1 and 6 p.m.).
"I bought in," McDonough said. "I figured if you don't buy in, you're never going to ever learn how good you are. I gave him everything. I still do."
McDonough, a sophomore pitcher from Hutchinson Community College, owns a 0.95 earned run average with 28 strikeouts and six walks. He hasn't allowed an earned run since Feb. 22 against Oklahoma State, when he allowed two.
On Sunday, he threw three scoreless innings, striking out five, in a 6-4 win over USF. The Shockers trailed 4-3 when he entered in the fifth inning before rallying to split the series and remain in third place in the American Athletic Conference.
"He's really starting to grow up mentally," Pelfrey said. "He's understanding the focus that it takes every day to be a guy."
Last fall, Pelfrey paired Bechtel and McDonough to play catch, an important part of the Shocker routine. If you can't play catch, they say, you can't play baseball. Shockers are expected to hit the target, around the uniform letters on the chest.
"It's really easy just to go out there and go through the motions," McDonough said. "It kind of hit me halfway through the fall – 'OK, let's earn a spot. Let's go. Let's compete.' I was giving it my all, just mentally I wasn't locked in. (Coaches) can see it. They can smell it. They know."
Bechtel, a junior in his second season at Wichita State, had watched McDonough pitch last summer. His throws tended to stray off target, a sign his mind wasn't totally on the task.
"When I was first assigned him for a catch partner, I was a little tentative about it," Bechtel said. "He was a little inconsistent. He has a great arm, but he would cut the ball and it would run."
Practice mattered. Bechtel's patience and counsel helped.
"When I first got here and I got paired up with him, I'm pretty sure he hated it – he hated it a lot," McDonough said. "He tells me if I do good. He tells me if do badly. He puts me in a good direction."
At Hutchinson, McDonough walked 15 batters in 8 2/3 innings during the shortened 2020 season. He also struck out 20.
"When he first came in, I could tell he had a really, really, really good arm," Bechtel said. "These last couple weeks he's been near unhittable and I think we all kind of knew that could happen if he could figure out his command."
Pelfrey's attention never wavered. He saw a pitcher with a fastball and slider that could sizzle, if consistent. He worked with McDonough, from Blanchard, Okla., to simplify his delivery. A simpler delivery, eliminating the windup and minimizing the leg kick, helped McDonough repeat the motions and stay closer to the strike zone.
"Some days it was tough," McDonough said. "Pelfrey would get on me and it's a lot to handle at first. Then, you realize he's doing it for a reason. If he stopped talking me, then I would think something was really wrong. He kept talking to me, so I had to trust it."
Even early in the spring, Pelfrey said he could tell when McDonough wasn't locked in and would tell coach
Eric Wedge not to count on him.
"I was pretty hard on him in the fall," Pelfrey said. "Every day I made it a point – 'You can't be that bad. You will eventually figure out that this is going to help you.'"
That time did come. In late April, he struck out six in 2 1/3 innings at Cincinnati. In an 11-9 win over then-No. 8 East Carolina, he worked around a walk and his throwing error by striking out the side to surrender only one run and keep the Shockers in the lead.
Those are the times McDonough knows the work is working. His improvement mentally is nurturing the talent in his arm. Wedge and Pelfrey did their part by adding confidence into the mix.
"Wedge likes to say '10-foot tall and bulletproof,'" McDonough said. "They call my name in the bullpen, that's what I feel. They build us up and we feed off them."
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
