Marlin Pitching Prospect Don Czyz - Interview

by James Quinn on Mar 28, 2007 10:37 PM EDT

Hello Marlins fans,

One of the pitching prospects in your minor league system is Don Czyz. Don was an All-American at the University of Kansas where he was named NCAA Stopper of the Year in 2006, an award given out to the most outstanding college relief pitcher. An interview I conducted with Czyz is posted at the KU blog Rock Chalk Talk.

The interview covers Czyz's four years with Kansas and his first year in the Marlin's minor league system. He talks about the adjustments he had had to make since going pro, about the atmosphere at his first spring training and how he feels about the Marlins ability to develop pitchers.

Hope you enjoy the interview. If all goes well with Czyz he might make it up to the big league club by late in 2008. After watching Czyz pitch at KU I have no doubt he is a solid guy and wouldn't be one bit surprised to see him become a quality major leaguer.

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Good Job with the interview

Thanks for posting it.

by craig on Mar 30, 2007 12:23 AM EDT reply actions

No problem Craig,

I'm glad you liked it. I watched Czyz pitch at KU for a few years and I do think there is a good chance he will be a decent MLB pitcher. He has pretty good stuff, has his head in the game always, is very competitive, and takes his job seriously. He got better each month he was on the mound. I think his best years are in front of him. I doubt he will plateau in the low minors.

When he came into a game I just relaxed. I had that feeling you get when you know that an important job has been given to the best player.

by James Quinn on Mar 30, 2007 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions

No higher recommendation can be said...

about a player, especially a closer, than:

When he came into a game I just relaxed. I had that feeling you get when you know that an important job has been given to the best player.

I look forward to see how he progresses.

by craig on Mar 31, 2007 9:07 AM EDT up reply actions

Great endorsement.

I remember on my wrestling team, we had one absolutely dominating guy who won state at 178lbs two years in a row. My coach was a fiercely intense guy, always banging on the mat and yelling instructions to us whenever we were wrestling. But with this guy, he just sat back, folded his arms and admired what he had the pleasure of watching.

Interesting how Relief Ace is almost an acceptable role in modern baseball. Guys closing in college coming into pro baseball specifically as relievers, with guys like Street and Cordero as headliners.

They aren't perfect, or anywhere close to it, but measures like VORP are nice for giving a relative value of players, and I think they've done great things for relievers.

by misterjonez on Apr 1, 2007 12:33 AM EDT up reply actions