MWL notes: Pope's faith leads to comeback

Mark Pope ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich after every game he played for the independent Frontier Greys.

"There wasn't a lot of money for the food budget," Pope said. "There was a loaf of bread, a can of peanut butter and a jar of jelly for about 25 guys, every game. It was tough at times."

Pope's post-game meal was usually followed by a restless night, wondering whether he would be able to pursue his dream of reaching the Major Leagues. A 6-foot-2 right-hander taken by the Padres in the fifth round of the 2011 Draft, Pope had a solid year in short-season ball that summer but went 7-8 with a 6.13 ERA at Lake Elsinore in 2012. He never made it out of Spring Training in 2013, getting released before the Braves picked him up a few weeks later. He went 0-2 with a 12.27 ERA with Class A Advanced Lynchburg and by May 1, 2013, he was out of baseball.

The releases weren't the low points, however. The low point came a few weeks later on a high school diamond.

"I pitched to a high school summer team," Pope recalled. "I should've never given up a hit to those guys in my life, and they were knocking me around. That was when I was really questioning myself and not sure if I was going to get back to where I was.

"I was sitting in the car after that, really thinking about my future," Pope said.

Pope knew if he walked away from the game, he wouldn't get back. He focused on what would get him back to being the stellar pitcher he was at Georgia Tech. Watching video of himself, he keyed in on what he did when he was dominating. He shelved some changes to his mechanics that the Padres and Braves had directed and went to play for Frontier for a last chance.

"My biggest thing was I had a little different delivery," Pope said. "I was able to throw almost anything at any time, and I wasn't afraid to throw any pitch at any time.

"When I started to pitch for the Padres, they saw my two-seamer and said, 'You're going to throw that a lot,' but it wasn't anything I had always pitched off of. Everything they told me made sense, but it just didn't click for me. They gave me a lot of chances on high teams, so I figured they would keep me around. That wasn't the case when I came into Spring Training and got released. That was a shock to me."

Dodgers vice president of player development DeJon Watson said scout Roy Clark saw Major League potential in Pope and convinced Los Angeles to give the 24-year-old a shot. The Dodgers signed him to a contract last January and invited him to Spring Training before eventually assigning him to Class A Great Lakes, where he was selected to play in the Midwest League All-Star Game earlier this month.

Pitching out of the Loons bullpen, Pope is 1-1 with a 0.67 ERA. He has struck out 27, walked nine and only allowed two runs and 14 hits in 27 innings, although he was placed on the disabled list June 20 and has not seen action since June 13.

"Roy felt like the kid just needed an opportunity, that there was something missing he didn't get the first couple places he stopped," Watson said. "I feel like, our coaching staff, we do a tremendous job with young pitching. You look at what we've done with some of the guys we've gotten later in Draft who have gone on to have success at the Major League level. He was taken [in the fifth round] because his skill set was there.

"Mark has been a great teammate and worked his tail off. He's got a chance to pitch. He's commanding the fastball from both sides of the plate, and that's the biggest thing for us -- commanding the fastball down."

Pope said he basically has rediscovered himself with Great Lakes, and his confidence has returned.

"It was weird for about a year and a half, just going out there and not feeling like myself on the mound," Pope said. "I felt like pitching was something that always came easy to me. I was always able to read hitters and feel confident in the pitches I was throwing. Then I was like, 'I just hope this pitch goes for a strike. I don't care if it's a good one.' It was tough pitching through that. Now, I feel like I can throw any pitch, and that I can have success at any level."

In brief

Major loss: Cedar Rapids catcher Mitch Garver was placed on the seven-day DL with concussion-like symptoms. A ninth-round pick in the 2013 Draft, Garver is among the team leaders with a .306 batting average, eight homers, 47 RBIs and a .482 slugging percentage.

Grand theft: Kane County's Trey Martin set a club record with five stolen bases Tuesday in a 9-3 victory against Wisconsin, falling one shy of the Midwest League single-game record. He was 2-for-3 with a walk and a fielder's choice, scored once and was left on third base in three different innings.

Silver streak: South Bend shortstop Andrew Velazquez leads affiliated baseball with a 55-game on-base streak. Toronto's Jose Bautista and Triple-A Sacramento's Andy Perrino are next best this season, reaching base 37 games in a row. Velazquez's development is getting plenty of attention in baseball circles, according to Silver Hawks manager Mark Haley.

"People are taking him very, very seriously, people in our organization and people in other organizations, which is even more important," Haley said. "When other organizations recognize that you have a guy who has a good chance of being a pretty good player in the big leagues, and they're starting to compare him to Omar Vizquel, that's a great accomplishment."