Faces on the Field: Ryan Wagner
The Reds fiddled with reliever Ryan Wagner's shortly after they made him the 14th overall selection in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft. Then the Reds rushed him to the big leagues that same season, making Wagner the first of the '03 draft class to reach the Majors.
The experiment ultimately failed, though. The Reds gave up on Wagner and traded him to the Nationals with Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez on July 13 as part of an eight-player deal.
"(The Reds) were trying to make me do a bunch of things that kind of took me out of my element and took me away from the pitcher that I was," Wagner said. "They tried to make me something that I wasn't."
For example, Wagner wasn't completely comfortable slinging some of the pitches the Reds had worked into his arsenal.
"When you're not 100 percent committed to whatever you're throwing, that can hurt you," he said.
Wagner, 24, doesn't have to worry about that anymore. No more funky arm slots, no more disagreement on pitch selection.
At Triple-A New Orleans, he'll be able to pitch his way.
"We're going to work on a few things," Wagner said. "They want me to throw my game. They want me to throw how I want to throw. As a pitcher, you can't ask for anything more than that."
New Orleans pitching coach Steve McCatty agrees. Slight mechanical adjustments aren't necessarily problematic, but a mechanical overhaul can cause trouble for any up-and-coming pitcher.
"(Wagner's) got to feel comfortable with what he's throwing, otherwise, you're not going to get the best out of him," McCatty said.
The Reds tried to get the best out of Wagner too quickly. He spent parts of three seasons in the Majors, where he compiled an 8-4 record, 4.69 ERA and 101 strikeouts.
Not bad numbers, but his ERA rose with each season, climbing from 1.66 in his rookie season of 2003 -- when he allowed four earned runs in 21 2/3 innings. In 2004, Wagner had a 4.70 ERA; last season, it hit 6.11. He gave up just as many runs this season at Triple-A Louisville, where he completed the first half with a 6.34 ERA in 35 appearances.
An assortment of arm slots might be at the root of Wagner's results. But Nationals general manager Jim Bowden wants Wagner to pitch the way he did during a successful career at the University of Houston.
"I talked to Jim, who drafted him in Cincinnati, and he wants (Wagner) to go back to that arm slot," McCatty said. "There are some videos that we are going to get, and I kind of remember where it was vaguely, and we'll just let him go back and be comfortable where that slot was for him.
"Wherever that may be is where he might be successful."
Some pitchers can use a variety of arm slots successfully; Hall of Famer Luis Tiant and Mets right-hander Pedro Martinez proved that.
Others simply need to pitch in the slot that feels most comfortable. Wagner might be one of those players, but he still has a few pitches, particularly a sinker, that impress McCatty.
"His sink drops like a brick," said McCatty, who watched Wagner toss a bullpen session the day after the Nationals acquired him. "It's really heavy."
McCatty will let Wagner toss that sinker, blaze a chest-high fastball and tinker with a changeup. Otherwise, how else would Wagner rediscover the form that made him a first-round pick three seasons ago?
"If somebody has the conviction to make a pitch, I'll let him do it," McCatty said. "Right or wrong, you have to see if they can do it. The best way you learn is not by your successes so much as they are by your failures."
Kevin Yanik is an associate reporter for MLB.com.