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09/09/2006 12:11 AM ET
Kuo's first start a smash for Dodgers
Rookie lefty dominates NL-best Mets; Furcal, Nomar go deep
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
NEW YORK -- Hong-Chih Kuo is from Taiwan, but the Dodgers have been
treating him like fine china.
They've feared that a left elbow twice reconstructed by Tommy John surgery
couldn't withstand the demands of a starting pitcher, so they had the
25-year-old relieve all year. For at least one huge emergency start
against the Mets Friday night, he proved his caretakers happily wrong.
As Dodgers rookies have done all season, Kuo stepped up in a crucial
game and delivered like a veteran. Pitching exclusively from the
stretch in his first career start, he threw six scoreless innings
in a 5-0 shutout win that kept the Dodgers in first place and will
keep Kuo in the rotation for at least another start.
Kuo, who won his first career game, received home runs from Rafael
Furcal and Nomar Garciaparra, but needed nothing more than the two
gift runs that scored in the first inning on David Wright's throwing
error.
And somewhere out there in retirement land, another star-crossed former
Dodgers pitcher should take some satisfaction in knowing that Kuo might
not have done this without his help.
"When I had to have the second operation, I thought about quitting and
going home, but Darren Dreifort told me to keep going," Kuo said, after
the waves of Taiwanese reporters subsided. "He said he was 30 years old
and he had two surgeries, and he was still pitching, and I should keep
going, too."
Kuo also credited guidance from Eric Gagne and support from family and
friends for picking him up when he repeatedly felt down. Previous Dodgers
administrations, having invested a $1.25 million signing bonus in Kuo as
a 17-year-old, stuck with him, and the reward came against the toughest
lineup in the league with the Dodgers reeling from four losses in five
days.
"He looked 100 percent different as a starter from a reliever," said
Furcal, whose torrid second half continued with two hits and two runs.
"When a rookie comes out of the bullpen and walks a couple guys, they
take him out of the game. As a starter, he stays in. This is what we
were looking for now, somebody coming up from the Minor Leagues and
helping you out."
Kuo battled butterflies in the first inning when he issued two of
his three walks, but got a major assist when catcher Russell Martin
threw out Jose Reyes trying to steal third base. He sailed after that,
not allowing his first hits until the fifth inning, finishing with three
hits allowed and seven strikeouts in six innings. Kuo used 90 pitches,
some reaching 96 mph, and said he could have gone longer on what was,
fittingly, Taiwanese Heritage Night at Shea Stadium.
"His fastball is really sneaky, which is why he gets a lot of swings and
misses," said Martin. "His slider was tight tonight. The difference in
him starting and relieving is that he has the time to establish his
fastball, and when the hitters cheat, he can use his off-speed [pitches]
more. He has the stuff to face a lineup two or three times."
Kuo agrees with all of that, and added that as a starting pitcher, he
has sufficient time to loosen up that bionic arm, compared with the
sometimes-hurried warmups required from a reliever.
"I feel better warming up as a starter," he said. "I'm more comfortable,
but I do whatever they tell me to."
Manager Grady Little said he will tell Kuo he's starting Thursday in
Chicago against the Cubs. He started Friday as a fill-in for the
injured Chad Billingsley, who is expected to return to the rotation
next weekend. Kuo could then emerge as the replacement for
Mark Hendrickson, who has been sent to the bullpen.
"[Kuo] deserves to have another chance," said Little. "At least one or
two more, and maybe 10 years worth."
Little was honest explaining why it took the Dodgers five months to
figure out that Kuo should be a starter.
"Maybe he's showed where his strongest desires were, but the situation
in Spring Training, after all of the arm problems of the past, we were
a little bit scared to use him for a length of time," Little said. "But
he showed he was healthy at Triple-A starting."
Kuo was demoted to Triple-A twice after unsuccessful bullpen stints
with the Dodgers this year, and was told to start at Las Vegas
because added innings would provide additional opportunity to
refine his command. As recently as two weeks ago, management
still considered him a reliever. But the unraveling of the
back end of the Dodgers rotation and Kuo's success starting
at Las Vegas led to Friday night's assignment.
And persistence kept him in the sport after he suffered his
elbow injury in spectacularly tragic fashion. In his professional
debut on April 10, 2000, he struck out seven of the 10 batters he
faced, blew out his elbow ligament, made two more pitches to end
the inning, then underwent a first Tommy John surgery.
He resumed pitching 14 months later, but problems persisted and he
required the procedure again, forcing him to miss the entire 2003
season. He also underwent another operation to clear scar tissue
from the transplanted ligament, a common side effect. He pitched
in only three games in 2004 and entered the 2005 season with a
total of 40 1/3 innings pitched in five years.
Finally healthy, Kuo made up for lost time with a meteoric rise
last year that began at Class A Vero Beach and ended with a September
callup to the Major Leagues from Double-A. This is his third stint
with the big-league club this year.
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"The difference in him starting and relieving is that he has the time
to establish his fastball, and when the hitters cheat, he can use his
off-speed [pitches] more. He has the stuff to face a lineup two or
three times."
-- Russell Martin, on Hong-Chih Kuo
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Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject
to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://0rz.net/511PK
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