Masterson awaits next challenge
LANCASTER, Calif. -- He may have just recently gotten used to the winds here, but Justin Masterson won't have to watch popups drift over his head and routine fly balls turn into home runs. No, the sinkerballer who mastered
After Wednesday night's game, which guaranteed a playoff berth for the JetHawks as California League champs of the first half, the righthander was promoted to Double A Portland. He was expected to arrive in New Britain for last night's game, which was postponed because of rain.
"Based on performance to date and the raw stuff, we felt it was best for Justin to continue his development in Portland," director of player development Mike Hazen wrote in an e-mail. "He has shown an ability to compete with three pitches and his consistency over the last two months was very impressive."
The 2006 second-round pick has pitched seven innings in each of his last four starts, sporting a 1.61 ERA.
"Let's see," he said with a smile last week. "How many starts have I had yet? I think it took me about 13 [of 17] starts to get comfortable. I had one thrown in there where I felt real good against San Jose and a couple where the results were good, but I didn't really feel good. But [on June 17], right before the All-Star break . . . maybe that was it, I just needed a little more pressure on me or something."
Masterson, a 6-foot-6-inch, 245-pound 22-year-old out of San Diego State -- where he was coached by Tony Gwynn -- had been starting for the JetHawks, though some believe his future is as a reliever. He came out of the bullpen for Single A Lowell last season.
Primarily a slider-sinkerball pitcher -- which accounts for his extreme 2.09 ground ball-to-fly ball ratio -- Masterson is starting to find consistency with his third pitch, a changeup, which he said was "dirty" back when he was in the instructional league. But it hasn't been easy to trust a pitch that, if thrown well, could result in the always unpredictable fly ball in Clear Channel Stadium, rather than the sinker, which produces lots of ground balls.
One thing Masterson doesn't lack is confidence. First he says he wants to be like John Smoltz, flitting between starting and relieving. He pulls out other names: Derek Lowe, Brandon Webb. He stops, though, and wants to clarify, indicating he doesn't think he's quite at their level yet. That doesn't mean, however, he doesn't want to be.
And after he started the season with numbers that didn't please him, his performance picked up as he adjusted to the conditions in Clear Channel Stadium and he matured as a pitcher, going from 0-2 with a 6.26 ERA in April to 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA in May to a 2.65 ERA in June.
"People who aren't here looking on, they're just like, 'Wow. Struggling!' And I'm like, 'Yeah, there's a little bit of that going on, but there's also some other factors in there,' " Masterson said before the promotion. "We've been working, figuring some stuff out.
"It's been a real good learning experience because you've got to take everything with a grain of salt. I mean, you get an opportunity to really know who you are as a pitcher, really know who you are mentally and physically."
Eight international free agents were also signed: third baseman Michael Almanzar (Dominican Republic), righthander Justin Erasmus (Australia), shortstop Rafael Espinosa (Dominican Republic), shortstop Joantoni Garcia (Venezuela), outfielder Javier Gutierrez (Venezuela), outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin (Chinese Taipei), righthander Roman Mendez (Dominican Republic), and catcher Jesus Rojas (Venezuela). All contracts are for 2008, except Lin's, which is for 2007.
"Of course, Michael [Almanzar] is the marquee name on the list," vice president for international scouting Craig Shipley said on a conference call. "He's a player that a lot of teams had a lot of interest in.
"Michael's a player that has a very projectable body, projectable tools. He has bloodlines: His father [Carlos] pitched in the big leagues. We're very happy to have him."
Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com. 
