Marshall University Athletics
Straily Anxious about Opportunity with Astros
2/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
By STEVE COTTON
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - For baseball fans, New Year's Day doesn't so much fall on Jan. 1. It comes when their favorite team reports to spring training.
It was much the same last week for Dan Straily.
As he checked in for action at the Houston Astros training facility in Kissimmee, Fla., the Marshall alumnus felt the novelty not only of a new season, but also of a new organization and even some new geography.
"Really I'm even excited just to see Florida," said the right-handed starting pitcher on the eve of his seventh professional season. "The only time I'd been here was when we came here with Marshall to UCF and South Florida.
"We were playing games so it's not like I did much exploring, so I'm enjoying getting to see this state a bit. With the A's I got to know Arizona like the back of my hand from spending springs there the last few years and now I'm seeing new things."
After spending his first five seasons gaining prominence in the Oakland A's organization after being selected as a 24th-round draft pick in 2009 - even pitching six strong innings at Detroit in Game 4 of the 2013 American League Division Series -- last season was a trying one for Straily.
Instead of building upon the 10-8 record and sub-4.00 ERA over 27 big league starts in 2013, a bothersome shoulder meant he spent much of 2014 in the minors and was traded twice, first in July to the Chicago Cubs and then on to Houston in January.
"I was all over the country, and a part of that was me not getting the job done on the mound," Straily said. "It's speculation, but if I had gotten the job done from Day 1 there's a good chance I never would have been dealt and we're having an entirely different conversation now. But that's how baseball is - it's hard and it's competitive and if you don't get the job done there's someone else who's next in line.
"That was something new for me - I wasn't 100 percent and I struggled. I was up and down and I ended up being traded twice, all pretty quickly. I think the struggles, though, made me a better person and a better pitcher for having learned those lessons.
"Now I feel totally healthy and strong, I think I've ended up in a great situation with a great opportunity and I'm totally excited for this season."
After several seasons of being the punchline to bad baseball jokes, many feel the Houston organization is on the verge of turning things around with not only an influx of young talent but also with new leadership in Manager A.J. Hinch and his staff.
For Straily, it means a clean slate, where Hinch and pitching coach Brent Strom are getting to know everyone at the same time.
"It's new for all of us," Straily said. "I talked with A.J. Hinch on the phone a little bit in the offseason and exchanged some emails with Coach (Brent) Strom, but that's it. We didn't really have any history before we got to camp.
"That's what is making this spring training so exciting, because with a new manager and coaching staff, pretty much everyone is getting to know one another. For me, this is a much easier situation than what I've usually been in, where a lot of times I've joined teams in the middle of a season when they have a comfort level and I'm the new guy. Here I'm a part of it from Day 1."
Straily also feels good that he feels good, especially the shoulder that just didn't feel right last season. He spent the winter in his native Oregon, working out at a training facility run by former University of Oregon defensive lineman Victor Filipe and throwing with Minnesota Twins farmhand Madison Boer at the Ducks' complex.
"I like working out with a guy who throws harder than I do, and that's Madison," Straily said. "As a pitcher, we all desire to throw a little bit harder. Of course a lot of how hard someone throws is genetics, but it's also affected by mechanics and working out with someone like that lets both of us see how the other guy maximizes what he can do with his body. I learned from him and he learned from me.
"I also went back to my roots in strength and conditioning to the things I learned when I was at Marshall. I also found a gym that is more of an athlete training facility. The owner was an NFL lineman who has an incredible knowledge of the mechanics of lifting.
"I focused my efforts toward that end this offseason and set myself to dominate that aspect of my game to get ready for spring training."
Straily also likes what he's seen percolating in Houston in the last two seasons.
"A couple years ago, with Oakland, we played Houston and we really beat them up for about nine games in a row," he said. "But then we went back and played them in the second half of the season and they swept us. It was a completely different ball club than we'd played just a few weeks before, and I mean pretty much entirely new players.
"So then last year they had our attention, but when we played once again they were even better than we expected. This team is poised to continue that trend with all the young talent they've put together. I just want to be one of the pieces to keep it moving in the right direction."
At 27, Straily is certainly no greybeard - his remains quite red - yet he provides the youthful Astros with something they lack: pennant chase experience.
"I've been in the playoffs and dealt with that level of pressure," he said. "I've been through the post-season media sessions, I've pitched when there's just one game that day and all eyes are on you.
"As I think back on (the ALDS game in Detroit), I was nervous before the game, but when I walked on the field it was just another game. We made some mistakes and we ended up losing the game, but I can honestly say that nerves were not a part of that. Hopefully I'll get the chance to face those situations again, and the fact that I've done it before can benefit both me and my team."
As he aims for a bounce-back year - and with a new organization -- Straily knows he has much to do before thinking about any pennant chase.
"I have to prove myself this spring to people who don't know me very well," he said. "There's nothing set in stone and I think that's good for me. They've never seen me throw hands-on. If they've seen me, it's been from a distance.
"I'm new to them and they're new to me and I just need to be who I am and pitch the best that I can."
This story also appears in this week's issue of Herd Insider magazine.
