Monday,
January 11, 2010
Chris Coste on Clay Condrey
Late last week, the Twins announced
that they had signed reliever Clay Condrey to a major league contract. He had been
non-tendered by the Philadelphia Phillies. It came a day after the Twins
announced they had taken Bobby Keppel
off of the 40 man roster. For the Twins, this is certainly an upgrade.
Condrey is a model of persistence. In 1996, Condrey was drafted in the 96th round by the
Yankees. He didn’t sign, but in 1998, he signed as a free agent with the San
Diego Padres. In August of 2002, he made his big league debut. Following the
2003 season, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. He remained a starting pitcher
at AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre in 2004 and 2005. In
2006, he moved to the bullpen and after 39 AAA games, he was promoted to the
Phillies. He has been part of the Phillies bullpen the past three years as
well.
While with the Phillies, Condrey and Chris Coste spent a lot of time together as teammates. The
two share a lot in common in their careers. Coste
recently signed with the New York Mets. After the Twins announced the signing
of Condrey, I sent Coste a
message to see what he could tell me about the Twins new acquisition.
SethSpeaks: So, how will Condrey fit into the Twins
clubhouse?
Chris Coste: He has always been a great teammate and a guy that will
do anything to help his team. He treats his team like the military, meaning all
of his teammates are like brothers and he will always have their backs.
SethSpeaks: Having caught him many times over the past five seasons, what would a
scouting report on Condrey be?
Chris Coste: He is mainly a groundball type pitcher meaning he is a
sinker baller. His secondary pitches include a
cutter, slider, and a changeup. His go-to pitch is definitely the sinker, but
all of his pitches are quality and can be used at any time.
He will not strikeout a lot of guys because he has a knack of getting quick
outs by way of the routine ground ball. He would prefer to break a guy's bat in
pieces with one pitch rather that throw more pitches to strike him out.
SethSpeaks: So, what role do you think Condrey could
fill for the Twins?
Chris Coste: He could be used in any role other than closer. He can
be used in long relief if the starter gets knocked around early, and he could
fill in as a setup guy in the short term as well. If a ground ball double play
is needed, Clay is the guy. He has always preferred to be the anonymous soldier
in the bullpen that can be called upon at any time to get the job done. He will
always take the ball and never complain about anything.
Obviously we can all look at the stats and see a guy who has struck out just 5.5 batters per nine innings in his big league career. I thought it would be interesting to get some perspective and information on him from a guy who not only was a friend and teammate of Condrey’s, but also spent a lot of time as his catcher. If you have any questions or comments, please comment here.