Maestro on the mound
Lewis' feel for how to pitch leads to a spot in the Indians rotation
Sunday, March 29, 2009
By Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Rob Carr Associated Press
Former Ohio State pitcher Scott Lewis showed this spring that his success last September wasn't a fluke.
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Scott Lewis still was processing the best news of his baseball life Wednesday, three hours after manager Eric Wedge told him he would open the season in the Cleveland Indians rotation.
"I'm pretty excited and a little relieved, too," said Lewis, who pitched for Ohio State after starring at Washington Court House High School. "There's been a lot of pressure you're not sure what is going to happen because they don't tell you much. You just go out and pitch because you're getting ready for the season."
The pitching part of the equation did what it always has for Lewis. It kept him focused on the catcher's glove and the surgical business of dissecting a batter.
"I stay pretty composed as far as not too much gets to me," Lewis said. "That's just the way I am, the way I've always been."
He recognized the game within the game almost as soon as he began pitching in youth leagues in Washington C.H. and built his repertoire to the point where he earned a scholarship from Ohio State.
"I learned it just from experiences of the times when you let stuff get to you, (that) it snowballs on you," Lewis said. "I just try to maintain my composure the whole time."