Tyson Ross: His Rise To Padres Star Pitcher

Ross has been a huge surprise for the Padres. Photo Credit: USA Today

 

The San Diego Padres have had an underwhelming season so far to date, being stuck under the .500 mark and being out of the NL West Division title race altogether. They have continued to battle issues with a less than formidable offense that has left them scrapping for runs in most games. The pitching though has been a very bright spot for the club. The star that has risen in that regard is Tyson Ross, who has had a very interesting road to get to this point in his career.

 

By: Michael Hanley

 

 

The 27 year old who has transformed himself into the Padres ace this season, did not have such a smooth start to his baseball career. As a second round pick of the Oakland Athletics in 2008, Ross was highly valued in the eyes of many scouts and of course by the Athletics. Many baseball people saw the great command of his off speed pitches he had already possessed. From a slider that had great break on it to a sinker that  had batters frustrated to no end. The Cal Berkeley product looked like another future rotation piece for the A’s down the road in his career.

 

In 2009, he spent most of his time at Stockton in High A California League, where he posted  a 5-6 record with respectable 4.17 ERA. What was most impressive in his stint there was his strikeouts to walks ratio. He ended up striking out 82 batters while walking only 33 in 86 ⅓ innings pitched, not bad for a pitcher who was just getting his feet wet and adjusting to how the minor league hitters were approaching him at the plate.

 

The next year would prove to be a breakthrough of sorts for Ross as he not only was able to be promoted to Triple-A Sacramento in the Athletics farm system but he also would make his long awaited major league debut for the big club.

 

While in Triple-A Sacramento, Ross did some of his finest work in his young, professional career. In just six starts he posted a 2-1 record with a 3.55 ERA, cutting just over half a run off from his days in high A-ball. There was a sense that he was rounding into form, getting set to take that ultimate and final step to the big leagues and be there to stay for the Athletics.

 

The day finally came when the A’s decided to bring Ross up on April 7, 2010 in a game against the Mariners. He worked 2 ⅓ innings scoreless as a relief pitcher, giving up one hit and striking out two batters, a very promising start to his major league career.

 

Oakland never settled one way or another on what exactly would be Ross’ role on that year’s team. They started him as a reliever but then moved him into the starting rotation to see what he could do there. The results were mixed at best as he finished that season 1-4 with a 5.49 ERA  in 26 games he appeared in.

 

Unfortunately 2011 and 2012 went much the same way for Ross, as he was sent up and down between the big club and Triple-A Sacramento, never being able to stay in one place for too long. This resulted in more inconsistent performances by him, culminating in a disappointing 2012 campaign which saw Ross go 2-11 with a 6.50 ERA for the Athletics that season, both career highs in losses and ERA. The Oakland brass decided it was the end of the road for them and Ross, so they traded him to the Padres after that season.

 

The Athletics did not help Ross much at all with continuing to shuffle him in and out of the bullpen and starting rotation.Young pitchers need stability in their lives especially when it comes to who they are pitching for. They need that time to develop and build a relationship not only with their teammates but especially their pitching coaches.It can be difficult in any profession to have to learn your craft on the fly but even more so when you are a professional baseball  pitcher and have high expections on your shoulders to carry and live up to.

 

When Tyson Ross arrived in San Diego, it was a clean slate for him and his career, a chance to make it back to the big leagues and stay for good this time around. He was quoted as saying that trade to the Padres was the “best thing that ever happen to me”  And he would certainly validate that statement with the performance he put up in that first season with the Padres.

 

Ross would appear in 35 games in the 2013 season for San Diego and the results were a delightful surprise for not only him but for the organization as well. Though his win loss record of 3-8 is nothing to write home about, more important than that was his ERA of 3.17, which was terrific considering he was able to achieve that number on a team that finished 76-86 on the season. Ross regained control his pitches he had lost in his previous years with Oakland which led to his uneven performances & high ERA.

 

Now,he was a pitcher who could keep the ball down in the strike zone,get his more than share of punchouts and keep his walk total low as seen with the 119 strikeouts to just 44 walks he issued during the 125 innings he worked during the season respectively. Ross credits his improved performance to Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley for making the changes in his pitching approach.Balsley made Ross throw his slider & sinker pitches more often & made them become more reliable pitches he could use to get strikes on the batters. Coming off this solid year of work, the Padres had him come back this season as a full time starter in their rotation.

 

This season, Ross has blossomed into an ace for the Padres starting rotation. He has thrown his array of pitches for strikes at a remarkably high rate, much more than any other season he has pitched in. That has been a big reason why he is 11-11 with a sparkling 2.70 ERA  this season through 26 starts. The 27 year old also has become very efficient with his pitch counts ,not having to expend a lot of pitches to get through the early innings of his starts, which enables him to go deep into games, saving the bullpen from having to add extra inning to their workload.

 

The variety with which he pitches with and the approach he has made with every start has also helped keep opposing lineups from getting any sort of bead on what he is throwing in a certain count, which pitch will it be, what velocity will he put on it etc. It leads to the hitter becoming uncomfortable at the plate.

 

They cannot settle in and just focus on getting one type of pitch to hit, they must worry and think about just which one of his many plus pitches will he throw? That has been a very difficult guessing game for hitters to play against Ross this season, with Ross winning a majority of those matchups. Its led to him registering 162 strikeouts to just 60 walks this season, an astonishing strikeouts to walk ratio for a pitcher to have at any level of baseball, let alone in the major leagues.

The future for Tyson Ross looks extremely bright. He is on a team that plays in in a very picture friendly  ballpark that will continue to be  a big advantage for him. He still has a good amount of prime years left to build off this remarkable season. Since he has made himself into the ace of this staff, the Padres now will make a concerted effort to keep him locked in with the organization and build around him with more talent.

 If they are able to surround him with better players and get him more run support, you could see Ross win 15-20 maybe  a few more if everything broke right for him and San Diego. Only time will tell where his career will progress to next but he certainly has found a home with the Padres and looks to make it his home where he dominates the National League for years to come.

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