WOODBRIDGE, Va. - There are times when his Single A Salem teammates laugh at Derrick Loop’s pickoff move, no matter how often they have seen it, like children laughing at the same cartoon over and over.
They’ve seen a runner looking at home plate, wondering where the ball went, and then get tagged out, his eyes glazed with a how-did-that-just-happen stare. They’ve seen a runner keep his foot on first until the ball popped in the catcher’s mitt, like he reverted to Little League rules.
In 42 innings this season, Loop, a lefthander, has picked off 12 runners, and he might have more if not for the handful of times the first baseman didn’t see the ball coming. Loop’s pickoff move - “my forte,’’ Loop said - has helped take him in one year from the independent leagues to a prominent place in the Red Sox farm system.
The Sox signed Loop, 25, from the Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League June 25 of last season. He reported to Single A and went 6-0. Loop became Salem’s closer this season, and he’s got eight saves, a 2.36 ERA, and an invitation to the California/Carolina League All-Star Game.
Loop throws a cutter (“my bread and butter,’’ he said), two fastballs, a slider, and a splitter, but his best weapon comes into play when a runner reaches. Teammates have joked with Loop that he should intentionally walk batters so he can pick them off.
“Everybody in the league knows he’s got a good move,’’ Salem manager Chad Epperson said. “But yet he continues to pick people off. It’s comical.’’
“I get handshakes every time I come in the dugout, guys laughing because they knew it was coming,’’ Loop said. “They say you could see that coming from anywhere else on the entire field, except first base.’’
In high school, throwing to first and ending up with a runner on third scared Loop to death. Holding runners on was one more thing to worry about it. So, he disregarded it.
Once he arrived at Cal State-Los Angeles and his accuracy improved, he realized a pickoff move should be a weapon for a lefty. Loop asked himself, “How can I look like I’m going home while going to first base?’’
Runners, he figured, can’t see his legs as easily as his upper body. He exaggerated his upper-body movements - his head, shoulder, and elbow flying toward home plate - while he stepped toward first and flicked the ball over. It took him three or four days to figure out the move, and he’s been refining it since.
Loop learned how to vary his pickoff moves, setting up his best with a series of more obvious ones. He created three bad moves to make his actual move more devious.
“I’m not picking a lot of guys off when they’re diving back to the base,’’ Loop said. “I’m picking them off when they’re looking home and the ball pops through their eyesight.’’
A pickoff can be afterthought, but not for Loop. For him, 12 pickoffs represent four free innings or a reduction of his 18 walks to six.
“It helps me pitch more comfortably,’’ Loop said. “I have a few walks this year, which I don’t like. But it hasn’t bothered me, because I know I can hold him on or I can pick the guy off.’’
During one of Loop’s few rocky games this season, he allowed three runs in one inning, but also picked off two runners. “It saved me probably three or four runs,’’ Loop said. “It was a rough outing, but it could have been a lot worse.’’
Loop will pitch for the Carolina League in the All-Star Game, which takes place in Lake Elsinore, Calif., Tuesday. Loop grew up half an hour away in Lake Mathews. His father bought 100 tickets for friends and family.
At two levels, Kelly has made a strong case for himself as a pitcher long term. Kelly began the season with low Single A Greenville and went 6-1 with 1.12 ERA in nine starts. Pitching against players typically four to five years older, Kelly has a 3.18 ERA at Salem in four starts, including one in which he threw six perfect innings before being removed.
“He’s taken the exact same poise, command, demeanor, competitiveness,’’ Red Sox director of player development Mike Hazen said. “He’s been impressive.’’
“The game is a step quicker, the players are that much better,’’ Kelly said. “Getting your secondary pitches over - everybody can hit a fastball here. You have to work on throwing your changeup, your curveball for strikes.’’
Kelly has thrown 70 1/3 innings in the regular season, and the Red Sox count his roughly 20 spring training innings toward his total. He’ll likely make two more starts, including one tomorrow, then become a shortstop for the rest of the year.
The Sox have not decided if Kelly will start playing shortstop at Greenville or Salem. He will spend a week at extended spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., while making the transition.
“I’m really excited about it,’’ Kelly said. “It’s like having two seasons in one. When everybody is getting tired and stuff, I’ll be ready to go play shortstop.’’
“It’s paying off for him,’’ Hazen said. “This guy works his butt off. You just feel good when it happens for somebody like Aaron Bates. You never hear a complaint. You never hear excuses for any sort of performance. It’s really gratifying to see this happen to somebody like him.’’
