You may remember my 2008 series with pitching coach Scott Aldred, in which we sat down and talked at length about each of the pitchers on the staff at the time.
Well, that series is back this year, but with a new pitching coach, of course.
Former big league pitcher Tommy Phelps joined the Thunder coaching staff this year after Aldred was promoted to Scranton, and we recently sat down and talked about every pitcher who was on the pitching staff as of a few days ago.
In the next to last of a two week long series, Phelps tells me about his impressions of Kanekoa Texeira. Always smiling about something, the Hawaii native was acquired by the Yankees in the trade that sent Jeff Marquez, Wilson Betemit and Jhonny Nunez to the White Sox for Nick Swisher.
Here’s what Phelps had to say about Tex:
“Tex has good life to his fastball. Has pretty good control. When he gets his command better…he gets ahead in the count a lot and then he starts to pick a little too much, but when he gets a little more aggressive with his stuff, he’s going to make it a lot easier for us. His secondary pitches are good. His changeup’s getting better, and he’s wanting to throw it more. What a good kid. Nice and easygoing. But when he’s out on the field, he’s competing. He’s got a great mix for on the field and off the field with his personality.”
Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com
