Assenmacher Man Of Few Pitches Indians Pick Spots With Success For Their Left-Handed Relief Ace
The Cleveland Indians have a running joke with Paul Assenmacher. Whenever the left-handed relief pitcher returns to the dugout after a stint on the mound, teammates ask him if he’s tired.
Assenmacher, you see, usually is a man of very few pitches.
In the seventh inning of Sunday night’s 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners, Assenmacher threw nine. But they may have been the nine most important pitches of Cleveland’s season.
“Paul Assenmacher gets to watch more baseball than anybody and not work,” said Cleveland starter Orel Hershiser, who allowed just five hits and one earned run in six innings. “But when he works, he is in one of the most pressure-packed situations that you’ll ever see.”
This one ranked up there. Cleveland led 3-2 with one out and runners on first and third. Ken Griffey Jr. was at the plate with Jay Buhner on deck. The series was tied at 2.
It was the kind of situation for which Assenmacher exists.
“He’s one of those competitors,” Cleveland pitching coach Mark Wiley said, “who has been lucky enough to find his niche in the game.”
His niche is to get out one big left-handed bat. No major-league reliever has been called upon more times (382) over the past five years than Assenmacher. This call essentially was for Griffey.
“I think it was the third time I faced him in my career,” Assenmacher said. “The first time, he hit a home run off me. Thank God, it was a meaningless game. I don’t think he knows me all that well. The bottom line is, you want to get ahead and throw strikes and just make good, quality pitches. If you make a mistake, he’s going to hurt you.”
Assenmacher, 34, avoided doing so. After opening the at-bat with a ball, he threw Griffey a breaking pitch and a fastball away for strikes. Then he got the punchout when Griffey chased a high fastball.
Usually at that point, it would have been time for Assenmacher to take the stroll back to the dugout, have someone ask if he’s tired and share yucks all around. With Buhner and his red-hot, right-handed bat next, conventional wisdom had manager Mike Hargrove putting the call in for a right-hander. Eric Plunk was ready.
Instead, Assenmacher got a visit from Wiley. And it was just a visit. Assenmacher was staying.
Several factors came into play. Left-handed batter Tino Martinez was coming up after Buhner. The Indians figured Assenmacher could finesse Buhner - walk the Mariner right fielder, if he had to - and stay on for the lefty-on-lefty confrontation. Also, the last time Plunk had come on to face Buhner, the result for Cleveland wasn’t pretty - a game-winning, three-run homer in the 11th inning of Game 3.
Assenmacher stayed.
After running the count on Buhner to 2-2, Assenmacher threw him a breaking ball that didn’t break much high in the strike zone. Buhner’s mighty cut missed it, ending the Mariners’ threat.