Kansas City Royals’ Jake Brentz has embraced the tension of the one-on-one battle
Last year, somewhere between trips between his hotel room and the Kansas City Royals’ alternate site at Legends Field (then called T-Bones Stadium), left-hander Jake Brentz experienced a paradigm-shifting realization.
Perhaps the setting lent itself to Brentz’s epiphany. After all, for several months he threw in scrimmages and live batting-practice sessions against the organization’s top prospects and hitters on the cusp of being in the major leagues.
That’s when it hit Brentz. There’s only one way to approach things on the mound.
“My mindset every night, regardless of the situation, is it’s me versus the hitter,” Brentz said. “You’ve got to know in your head that you’re going to win that battle. That’s really all I think on the mound, attack with my best stuff and have conviction behind each pitch.”
That fairly simple and straightforward statement about confidence and conviction sums up a large portion of how the 26-year-old from Ballwin, Missouri went from a well-traveled minor-league pitcher with an electric arm to one of the key figures in the Royals’ bullpen despite spending than two months in the majors.
Entering Friday night’s series opener against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, Brentz and Tampa Bay Rays right-hander J.P. Feyereisen tied for the most appearances in the majors among rookie pitchers (24).
Brentz compiled a 2.49 ERA and with 24 strikeouts, four holds, 24 strikeouts, 15 walks, a 1.69 WHIP and an opponent’s batting average of .162 in those 24 appearances.
“One day I was driving back from the alt site — I was throwing well — and I just completely told myself there’s no time to have doubt ever when you’re on the mound,” Brentz explained.
It’s common for any pitcher to start doubting himself when they run into trouble. Instead of believing or knowing that they can make the pitches they need to make, they start hoping and wondering.
Brentz knows all about that dynamic.
He entered professional baseball in 2013 with the Toronto Blue Jays. It took six seasons and a second organization for him to begin to grasp the importance of reducing all the noise and distractions down to the basic one-on-one match-up.
He first recognized it when he reached Triple-A in 2019 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and even then the game still sped up on him at times.
The Pirates released him in August that year, and the Royals signed him four days later.
“Early on in my career, I would doubt myself a lot because I never pitched,” Brentz said. “I didn’t know what it took to get to the big-league level. Now that I’m here, that’s really all it is — knowing that you can get guys out.”
Brentz didn’t become a full-time pitcher until shortly before he entered professional baseball. He’d been a draft prospect as an outfielder as a prep player.
He has come a long way.
Tuesday night in the Royals’ 2-1 win over the Rays, Brentz pitched 1 1/3 no-hit innings without a walk, and he struck out two.
“We just continue to kind of add what we give him, and he continuously answers,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said after that performance.
The next night, Brentz came on after Josh Staumont and pitched the ninth inning after the Royals had tied the score 1-1 in an eventual extra-inning loss.
Matheny continues to tout the importance of adding to the existing crop of bullpen options who have demonstrated they’re ready and capable of performing in high-leverage spots.
Brentz has quickly earned the trust of Matheny and the Royals coaching staff.
“I know there’s trust there, and I want to be one of those guys that throws in high-leverage situations every night,” Brentz said. “Obviously, I know that I’ve got to go one day at a time, one pitch at a time and continue to do what I’m doing. So that’s really my mindset.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
