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Reliever finding way back

The Rays and Rule V pick Kevin McGlinchy hope he's past the injury that derailed his career.

By KEVIN KELLY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 18, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- The clubhouse attendants were affixing nameplates to lockers last week when Kevin McGlinchy spotted a place he thought could be his.

Lost and Found.

"I came on the scene and sort of disappeared," McGlinchy said. "It's been a while. It really feels like it's a long time."

Two seasons.

The Rays surprised many by taking McGlinchy, the former Braves reliever, with the first pick of the Rule V draft this offseason.

Tampa Bay's $50,000 hope is that the 24-year-old, who showed so much promise during his only full season with the Braves, has progressed enough from persistent rotator cuff problems to bolster an already solid bullpen this season.

"He's still young, still has an outstanding arm when healthy and has already had success at the major-league level," Rays general manager Chuck LaMar said. "That opportunity doesn't present itself very often in the Rule V draft. But he has to prove he's healthy and he has to get back on the mound against major-league hitters and prove that competitiveness he once had is still there."

LaMar knows McGlinchy's past well.

He was Atlanta's assistant general manager for player personnel when the club drafted the Malden, Mass., native in the fifth round of the 1995 amateur draft.

"He was a big, strong, aggressive young man," LaMar said. "He came across to us that not only did he have the stuff to pitch in the major leagues, but he wanted to pitch in the major leagues."

The Braves recalled McGlinchy in 1999 after three seasons in the minors, none higher than Double A, and he had an immediate impact.

With a fastball in the upper 90s and a forkball and slider to accompany, McGlinchy went 7-3 with a 2.84 ERA in 64 appearances, including three in the playoffs.

Many probably remember him for allowing a 15th-inning walkoff home run (later ruled a single) to the Mets' Robin Ventura in the 1999 National League Championship Series.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," McGlinchy said. "I had to go through that. At some point in time you've got to go through that again."

The next season, however, tightness and soreness in his shoulder wouldn't go away. He made 10 appearances for the Braves and 13 in the minors in 2000, experiencing pain each time he pitched.

"It was kind of like a mystery," McGlinchy said. "No one knew what or where or what to do. Considering my age, I don't think they wanted to go in and operate on me right away.

"It basically was just tendinitis. Tendinitis is something where one day it felt like I could go out there and throw through a wall and one minute I'm biting my hand."

After a partially torn rotator cuff was repaired by Dr. James Andrews last March -- McGlinchy has three straw-sized holes in his shoulders from the procedure -- he was relegated to rehabilitation until two late Gulf Coast League appearances.

"Right now I'm trying to maintain my strength and trying to get out there and pitch pain-free," said McGlinchy, who was examined by Andrews on Saturday.

Where, or if, he fits in with the Rays remains a question.

Manager Hal McRae has talked about carrying up to 12 pitchers on the roster. A healthy McGlinchy could join fellow righties Victor Zambrano, Travis Phelps, Jesus Colome and closer Esteban Yan.

But with a Rule V pick, Tampa Bay has limited options.

If it doesn't keep McGlinchy on the major-league roster, it risks losing him. He first would have to be offered on waivers, then to the Braves for $25,000. Only then can Tampa Bay send him to the minors.

One option might be to keep McGlinchy and place him on the disabled list.

"Like any injured player, I think he's going to fight through battles," LaMar said. "He's got to get completely healthy. I think he's making tremendous progress. Again he's got to hop on the mound and get these hitters out.

"The longer a player, no matter how good he is at the major-league level, stays away from that fine edge of competition it takes to be successful at this level, the tougher it is."

McGlinchy doesn't disagree.

He anticipates facing major-league hitters again and hearing an opposing crowd boo his strikeouts.

"These past few days I'm getting back into the swing," he said. "I know where the field is. I know where the mound is. I don't need a compass. It's getting back to basics."

And, the Rays hope, getting back to the level he was at in 1999.

"The reason I'm playing is to have success," McGlinchy said. "This is the only thing I know how to do really. Just going out there and competing, that's the only thing you want to get a taste of. It's the thing you miss."

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