Marshall University Athletics
Herd Alum Sikula Improving with Every Promotion
4/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 28, 2014
By STEVE COTTON
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- For Toronto Blue Jays farmhand Arik Sikula, slow and steady has been a recipe for great success.
The Marshall alumnus might not have rocketed through the team's farm system, but he's making a favorable impression at every stop.
With eight saves already (through Sunday's games) for Dunedin Blue Jays in the advanced Class A Florida State League, Sikula is among the statistical leaders in all of minor league baseball. His eight saves are tied for tops in the minors with Kirby Yates of Class AAA Durham.
In his fourth season of pro ball -- including the quick stint of rookie league action after being taken by Toronto in the 36th round of the 2011 draft -- the right-handed closer has worked 9 2/3 innings in 10 games, allowing only five hits and one earned run with three walks and 15 strikeouts. His ERA is 0.93.
"I focus on what I can control like doing what I can to stay healthy and pitch well, keeping a good attitude and being a good guy to have in the clubhouse," said Sikula, who split his Marshall career as first a reliever and then a starter from 2008-2011. "If a guy does those things and puts up enough zeroes, he'll eventually get a chance to try it at the next level."
The Blue Jays have noticed. He was the lone relief pitcher named to Toronto's Organizational All-Star Team after a 2013 campaign in which he registered a 6-1 record and 1.93 ERA and 19 saves for the Lansing Lugnuts, tied for second-most in the Class A Midwest League.
Sikula didn't allow a run until his eighth appearance for Dunedin this season and his earned run average has actually improved at each step up the Minor League ladder. So can it be long before Toronto wants to know what he could do in Double-A ball? He has no idea.
"There's not really a lot of long-term planning for me at this point," Sikula said. "It's all about doing your job every day and if you string enough of those good days together you hope you get the call to move up.
"The managers and coaches focus on today - going over what you did or didn't do in last night's game, what was good and what wasn't, and then planning for the next day and the next game."
As good as his Minor League statistics have been, Sikula's most impressive professional performance might have come last winter after he received an unexpected phone call asking if he'd be interested in pitching for the Santurce Crabbers in the Roberto Clemente Winter Baseball League in Puerto Rico.
"That was a huge opportunity for me," Sikula said. "Guys in (Class) A ball don't usually get invited there. So I jumped at the chance to play with and against Major Leaguers and a lot of Triple A guys who are considered great prospects. Billy Hamilton and Derek Robinson from the (2013) Reds were on our team, for instance.
"Plus, I got paid about three times as much as I do playing in the minors, so it was a quick, 'Yes!' when I got the offer."
Sikula's performance against the higher level of competition in Puerto Rico fell right in line with what he's done at every other stop: a 2.25 ERA and 5 saves in 18 appearances.
A memorable highlight came when he faced reigning league MVP and current Norfolk Tides (Baltimore AAA) catcher Johnny Monell with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning and runners on second and third, trying to protect a one-run lead.
"I got him on a little grounder to first base to end the game," Sikula said. "There was another time against a guy who has played in the majors a little and with the bases loaded and one out I broke his bat and got a double play. Doing those things against guys who've played in the bigs gives you great confidence."
If the folks who watched Sikula pitch in Marshall green and white were to see him in action today, he doesn't think they'd notice too much different about him.
"I still throw the two-seam fastball, although I have added a cutter that's been working for me lately," he said. "Then I have my curveball and change-up.
"It's funny, the curve is the same one I've been throwing since I was 10 or 11 years old. Same grip, same mechanics, everything. It's always worked and nobody has ever tried to change it. I got a guy to strike out just the other night to end the game with runners on base, with that exact same curveball that I was throwing in Little League. It's still a strikeout pitch for me."
But while much of what Sikula is doing on the mound now is generally what he was doing when he won 12 games and saved 8 more at Marshall -- where his 201 strikeouts is still in the school's all-time top five even though half of his career was spent as a reliever -- he's constantly fine-tuning his approach.
"As you climb through the minors, every little thing makes a big difference," he said. "I've worked hard to make sure every pitch looks the same coming out of my hand and that the breaking ball is a little tighter and sharper with no hump on it.
"You'd better really locate your pitches well, too. The higher you go, the hitters will take advantage of any tiny mistake you make."
Like every minor leaguer, Sikula is waiting, not so patiently, for word of that next promotion that elevates him closer to his big league dream. But he's also making sure he takes the time to appreciate that he's living a life that most can only dream about.
"I really enjoy the experiences of pro baseball," he said. "Even things like going to a restaurant in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and having to pay way more than I ever would for a meal because my Spanish was awful and I ordered the wrong thing from the menu, or getting lost because I couldn't communicate where I wanted to go properly.
"In baseball, you get thrown together on a team with guys from all over…guys from southern Mississippi, guys from Washington, New York, Canada and other countries. Every day I'm learning new things about different places and different cultures.
"It's different than college, but it's still an education and I love that part of it."
Another thing that gives the Herd product hope is the success he sees other Marshall alumni having in professional baseball.
"When I was at Marshall I really didn't know much about the pro system," he said. "At that point you just want to get drafted and get a chance to keep playing. But I didn't really know the minor league structure and how the business works.
"But to see Dan Straily pitching in the Major Leagues - I watch him every time I can on MLB TV - I'm watching a guy who pitched on Sundays for Marshall and was a later-round draft pick, and I was those same things. To see (Kevin) Shackelford make the 40-man Major League roster with Milwaukee - that's another guy I played with. It's inspirational for me and others from Marshall.
"How awesome would it be to see several Herd guys in the big leagues at the same time?"
Longtime Marshall broadcaster Steve Cotton is also a Herd Insider columnist. It appears in this week's HI edition (May 1).
