August 1, 2001 
Ex-Marlboro hurler
pitching with
Greensboro Bats
By tim morris
Staff Writer

Around the fifth inning of each game, Jason Faigin begins to put his game face on. As the closer for the Greensboro Bats, the Single A affiliate of the New York Yankees in the South Atlantic League, Faigin has to prepare himself for the eventuality of getting the call to nail down a Greensboro win in the ninth inning.

The Marlboro High School graduate, who was drafted by the Yankees out of Glassboro’s Rowan University in 1999, has been making steady progress up through the Yankee organization. He was in Staten Island the last two years, where he was used in short relief. He moved up to Greensboro this summer for the full 142-game season. He began the year as a setup man but has recently been moved to closer.

"There’s really no difference between setup and closer," Faigin explained. "I’ve been in close games all year. My job is still the same, throw strikes. When I’m in the bullpen, I’m studying the hitters and paying attention to where they stand in the batter’s box and how they swing."

It’s a job that Faigin has been doing quite well for the Bats. At the close of last week, Faigin, despite a 1-6 record, was second in the league in appearances with 44. His 2.63 earned run average was one of the best on the team. He has worked 48 innings and has maintained his superb strikeout rate with 49 Ks in that time. His eight saves are tops on the team, and hitters are batting only .224 against the 6-2, 195-pound right-hander.

Faigin noted that the Yankees aren’t as concerned with overall record as they are with the way a pitcher is throwing. The team not only charts every pitch and at bat that a pitcher has but describes the kind of hits he gives up. On the stat sheet, a pitcher could give up four or five hits in a two-inning stint and it would appear that he was hit hard going by the numbers. But the Yankees chart the kind of hits —whether they were solid line drives, bloop singles or of the infield variety. When it’s all put together, it could turn out that a pitcher was not hit very hard at all. That attention to detail could explain why the Yankees have been winning at all levels in its organization.

After two years playing the short-season New York-Penn League (76 games), Faigin is in his first full season of pro ball, a 142-game season from April through the first weekend of September.

"It’s a long, long season," he said. "I’ve already pitched double the innings that I have the last two years. Physically, I’m fine. That’s why the off-season workouts are so important. In the off-season, I’m in the gym three hours a day. During the season, you don’t do as much conditioning."

It’s the conditioning that pays off during the long grind of a professional season. Faigin has appeared in as many as six straight games (over a seven-day stretch) for the Bats, including both ends of a double-header.

"I don’t have any problems with how often I pitch; when I get the call, I’m ready," he said. "I feel great."

Faigin’s 44 appearances are proof of his durability and the Bats’ confidence in him. Now in his third year of professional ball, he is a more confident pitcher, more aware of his strengths and what it takes to get hitters out.

"The pitcher can do whatever he wants on the mound; he has the control," he said. "I’m a better pitcher than I’ve ever been. I know what pitch to throw and where to throw it."

As Faigin has improved, so have the batters he is facing nightly.

"The hitters are so much better," he remarked. "You can’t get away with mistakes with them. You know that when you’ve made a bad pitch, they’re going to make you pay for it."

Faigin hasn’t thrown all that many bad pitches. In his 48 innings of work, he has not given up a home run.

Faigin’s success lies in a couple of areas. He is a fearless pitcher who is not afraid to go after hitters. He doesn’t nibble around the corners; he goes right after them. Along with his aggressiveness, he can throw strikes. He has issued only 17 walks while fanning 49. Although he can be a power pitcher (he has reached 94 mph), what he has going for him is the fact that he can throw different pitches for strikes. He has a slider, a fastball cutter and a change-up. He has a two-seam fastball that breaks away from left-handers, and his four-seamer runs in on them.

Having all those pitches is one thing, but knowing where and when to throw them in a count is the key to pitching success, and that is what Faigin is working on mastering. Still, when an out is needed, one pitch remains a pitcher’s favorite.

"The best pitch is still the perfectly located fastball," he said.

Faigin’s progress this season has him thinking about moving up in the Yankee minor league chain.

"I’m doing well; I want to keep going up to the next level," he pointed out.

Faigin may be headed there, and it could turn out to be an early-season loss that put him on the fast track. It was a game in which the Bats were leading 10-1, and he admits he thought the game was all but over. It wasn’t. The Bats ended up losing the game, and Faigin had one of his rare bad outings. He attributed it to not being mentally ready. Thinking that the game was already a lock, he was sure that he wouldn’t be pitching. That won’t happen a second time. "No matter what the score is, when it gets to the fifth inning, I start to focus," he said.

In the SALY League, Faigin is able to monitor the progress of his former Marlboro teammate, Ray Navarrete, who is an infielder for the Hickory Crawdads, the Pittsburgh Pirates Single A affiliate, who just happen to be fighting it out with the Bats for first place in the second half of the Eastern Division season.

"We’re good friends," said Faigin. "We’ve played against each other a lot. He was with the Pirates (Williamsport) last year when I was on Staten Island. It’s always good to see someone you know. He’s been doing quite well for Hickory."

The ex-teammates have not faced each other this year although they did get to go head to head last year in the New York-Penn League as first round went to Faigin, who fanned his former teammate. But there may be more meetings for both on the way up.