THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 24, 1994 TAG: 9407240165
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
Already, he's a disappointment. Can you believe that? The man has pitched 67 innings of professional baseball and some national publication is ready to write him off, suggest that he not spend that $750,000 signing bonus all in one place.
Then again, Wayne Gomes made his own bed to an extent last year, when the Philadelphia Phillies picked him fourth in the June draft, by spouting off about how he might be a major leaguer sometime in 1994.
Just guessing, but you'd have to dig deep to find the last pitcher - other than ``Bull Durham's'' Nuke LaLoosh - with a Class-A earned-run average around 6.00 near the end of July who went to the big leagues that same season.
Baseball America isn't putting stock in the former Old Dominion University star from Hampton, that's for sure. In its latest edition, Gomes is lumped with Tyler Green and Ricky Bottalico, other touted-but-struggling Phillies pitchers, as the No. 1 disappointment, collectively, in the minors this season.
The inference is clear, that these are three more fake prospects in an organization with a sad history of draft washouts.
Gomes sniffs at the charge. Dismisses it in short, clipped cliches. I'm fine, he says. Too many walks, but that'll change. Just have to mature, learn to relax, pitch my game, stay within myself.
``Reporters are front-runners anyway, '' Gomes, 21, growls into the phone from Kissimmee, Fla., on a road trip with the Clearwater Phillies. ``I haven't even played a full season yet and I'm a disappointment? That's ridiculous.
``I struggled with my control in college, too. Same thing. I'm still young. I'm going to get better. It's no big deal.''
The Phillies have big money on Gomes' projection. They signed him for a total package of nearly $900,000, and this year have Gomes, a spring-loaded closer in college and in Class A last year, starting in order to increase his innings and chance at rapid development.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound righthander has been spotty, but with each appearance Gomes has unfurled the raw talent that earned him such high selection.
Hitters are often powerless when Gomes throws his fastballs, curves and changeups across the plate. His 58 strikeouts in 52 innings - 82 in 67 innings for his brief career, and only 49 hits allowed - are testimony.
Yet, rich young man or not, Gomes isn't unlike most 21-year-old pitchers in his battle with the strike zone. He has walked 55 this season and 72 overall, more than one per professional inning. Nothing is more responsible for this year's 4-6 record and 5.71 ERA.
His ERA rose almost a point Friday night in a disastrous outing against the Daytona Cubs. In 1 1/3 innings, Gomes walked six, threw two wild pitches and gave up five runs despite allowing only one hit.
OK, the players picked before him - Alex Rodriguez, Darren Dreifort and Brian Anderson - have already played in the watered-down majors, but it's too early to call Gomes a bust.
He knows it, and he expects Baseball America and the world will know soon, too.
Gomes says his only disappointment this season, besides his wildness, is the nagging groin pull that sidelined him three times for more than a month.
``I'm not pleased with the walks, but I am with everything else,'' Gomes says. ``I've been striking out a lot of guys, I've kept my hits down. The only reason my ERA is high is because I've walked a lot of guys.
``You're in the minors to work on things, and that's what I'm doing. The year's not a total disaster. I still think I've got great stuff. And there's a lot of season left.''
It affords Gomes more time to polish his control, from which pitching coach Darold Knowles draws a line to Gomes' self-control. The two, Knowles says, are directly linked.
``He still has a problem with fighting himself a little bit,'' Knowles says. ``He's very high-strung and really wants to succeed so bad. He's learning to back off a little bit.
``I can tell when he's going to have problems. He gets nervous-looking on the mound. Very fidgety. I'll yell at him, tell him to step back, take a deep breath and regroup. I haven't had to do it as much as early in the year. I see him doing it himself now.''
Gomes prides himself on his closer's intensity and expects to return to that late-relief role next season, though he says that hasn't been discussed.
``If they ask me, I would probably recommend that he (begin) at this level again next year,'' Knowles says. ``He's got such a great arm, once he learns to pitch, he's going to go fast. He can start here, move up and at least be in Double-A and possibly Triple-A by the end of next year.''
A year ago, that didn't seem soon enough to Gomes. Then again, a year ago he was so impressed with his draft status that he needed to impress everyone else, too.
``Being a No. 1 pick, I know all the eyes are going to be on me,'' Gomes says. ``Before, I was concerned with what everybody else thought. It's no big deal anymore. I know people are going to be geared up. I just try to do my best.''
So the critics can carp. One man's disappointment can be another's time of discovery. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
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by CNB