BOSTON — Seldom in his professional career to this point has Thomas Pannone been able to spend two full off days about an hour from his native Cranston.
It’s a welcome difference for the 24-year-old. Pannone started the season out of the minor league ranks and on the 25-man roster with the Blue Jays. The left-handed pitcher made his big league debut last August with Toronto and broke spring training with the club this year, earning himself an early trip to Fenway Park for [...]
BOSTON — Seldom in his professional career to this point has Thomas Pannone been able to spend two full off days about an hour from his native Cranston.
It’s a welcome difference for the 24-year-old. Pannone started the season out of the minor league ranks and on the 25-man roster with the Blue Jays. The left-handed pitcher made his big league debut last August with Toronto and broke spring training with the club this year, earning himself an early trip to Fenway Park for this week’s two-game series with the Red Sox.
“Making the team was awesome,” said Pannone, a former Bishop Hendricken star. “Going into spring training. I obviously had a goal to make the team. I threw the ball pretty well in spring. Had a couple rough outings, but think I showed them that I improved from last season.”
Pannone won four of his six starts with the Blue Jays in 2018, pitching to a 4.19 earned-run average across 12 appearances. He’s moved to the bullpen after the offseason acquisitions of starters Matt Shoemaker (Angels) and former Boston right-hander Clay Buchholz (Diamondbacks), giving manager Charlie Montoyo a second southpaw option alongside Tim Mayza. It’s a different role for Pannone, who made all but one of his 50 appearances as a starter in the minor leagues from 2016 to 2017.
“I’m throwing a little harder and sharpened my stuff up a little bit,” Pannone said. “They told me I was going to be in a bullpen role and I was totally cool with anything I could do to be on the team.”
Pannone’s routine between starts included a heavy weightlifting session the following day and a pair of bullpen sessions. He’s changed to some lighter circuit training each day and hopes to be ready each time his name is called. Pannone’s average fastball has ticked up 2.5 mph to 90.6 and he’s throwing both his curveball and changeup more frequently through three games this season.
“Just preparing the body and the mind every day to get my name called and go into a game," Pannone said. "It’s a lot different than starting.”
Pannone spent most of his offseason at home in Rhode Island and worked out at Bryant University. He utilized the sparkling indoor facility on the Smithfield campus and had the blessing of head baseball coach Steve Owens to come and go as he pleased. Pannone made some tweaks to his delivery and felt more confident when he reported to Florida in February.
“I really didn’t feel like I was in a good spot last year throwing-wise,” Pannone said. “I had good results but I didn’t feel comfortable doing it. I wasn’t repeating my delivery, my motion, every single time.”
Pannone’s 7 2/3 innings entering Thursday included strikeouts against 11 of the 35 men he faced. His best outing occurred in a four-inning relief stint at Baltimore on April 1, as Pannone allowed just one hit and fanned five. He’s shown enough ability to potentially earn some high-leverage work and was warming in the late innings of Toronto’s 7-5 victory over the Red Sox on Tuesday.
“It was sick,” Pannone said. “Just to get up and start warming up, I had that rush. I was like, ‘Wow, I’m actually about to pitch at Fenway.' "
Mayza, Daniel Hudson, Joe Biagini and Ken Giles combined on the final 10 outs, as Boston sunk to the bottom of the American League East. The Blue Jays jumped a game ahead of the Red Sox and have a fresh outlook under Montoyo, who served as the bench coach for manager Kevin Cash with the Rays last season.
“He’s a positive manager,” Pannone said. “He’s here to win and here for the players. He’s fun to play for. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season with him.”
— bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25