Hartsville’s Lyles makes pitch to climb Astros’ ladder

Since being taken as a supplemental first-round pick in the 2008 draft by the Houston Astros, Jordan Lyles has worked to acclimate himself to the everyday business of professional baseball.

And after his first full year in the minors, business is good for Lyles.

Very good.

The former Hartsville standout didn’t waste any time making a name for himself with the Class A Lexington (Ky.) Legends. His 167 strikeouts over the summer are single-season and career records for the Legends, and he was was second on the team among starters with a 3.24 earned run average.

His strikeout total was also third best in the South Atlantic League.

“I think the biggest difference this year was really just learning how to pitch and learning how to scout an opposing team,” Lyles said. “I was used to playing every day in high school. Now I have five days between starts to sit in the dugout and watch the other team hit.

“After a while, you start to learn where you want to attack certain players and where you want to stay away from others.”

Part of learning to pitch also meant establishing enough control to run the ball in on hitters, Lyles said.

“About a quarter of the way through the season, I made it a point to utilize both sides of the plate,” he said. “Before, I hadn’t gone inside too much. I think that was one of the things that really started to keep the hitters off-balance.”

Lyles’ fastball, averaging 92-93 mph, is a big reason the 6-foot-4, 185-pound right-hander was taken so high in the draft. It was also his best weapon this season.

“Jordan has a special fastball,” Legends pitching coach Travis Driskill said. “It almost seems to speed up as it comes to the plate. In reality, it’s just maintaining a constant speed from the mound to the plate.

“But movement and location are what make it so effective. Even when Jordan throws it for a ball on purpose, he still gets hitters to swing.”

Driskill, who was also Lyles’ pitching coach at Greenville, Tenn., of the rookie Appalachian League in ’08, said Lyles’ combination of a great fastball and good changeup made him tough right from the start.

The addition of a major-league curveball has made the fastball and changeup stand out even more.

“I didn’t really have too much of a curveball to begin with,” Lyles said. “It was one of those slow, looping curves that just gave the batters something different to look at. But after a while, I was able to tighten up the spin and speed it up a little.

“Now I’m pretty comfortable using it as an out pitch, too.”

Repetition during side throwing sessions helped Lyles refine his curveball quickly, but it will be an ongoing process, Driskill said.
“Just like every pitcher, it’s there one day and gone the next,” Driskill said. “It’s just something you have to work on constantly whether you’re just out of high school or a 20-year MLB veteran.”

Lyles’ overall numbers were good across the board. In 144 2/3 innings, he gave up 134 hits and walked 38.

His ERA with the bases empty was 0.34. With runners on, though, it ballooned to 6.72.

“I don’t really have a reason for it,” Lyles said. “I feel comfortable in the stretch, and I don’t think I try and overthrow the ball when I get in those situations. It’s just something that you have to work on to try and get better at.”

Driskill agreed.

“He’s learned a lot in his first year, and I think that’s something that comes with time,” he said. “Once he learns to make that out pitch to get the double play or the ground ball and minimize the damage, you’ll see a big difference.”

Lyles is now pitching for the Astros’ instructional league team in Florida, but doesn’t know where he’ll start next season.

But Driskill is pretty sure it won’t be Lexington.

“I’m 99.9 percent sure he’ll be at (Single-A Advanced) Lancaster (Ca.) next year, or maybe even (Double-A) Corpus Christi (Texas),” he said. “Jordan’s grown a lot this year as both a player and a person.

“I’m sure he’s not too far off from realizing his big-league dream.”