A ‘Large’ adjustment.

The 2009 season almost got off to a flying stop for reliever T.J. Large.
Large, who was scheduled to open the season at Portland, was called on to pitch for Boston in a spring training game against the Detroit Tigers.
In one-third of an inning Large almost walked everybody except the hot dog sellers. He walked five Tigers and the one he retired – Gary Sheffield – was on a sacrifice fly.
Ouch.
“Once you get embarrassed, it opens your eyes a little bit,” Large said in a massive understatement. “Since then, I’ve approached the game a little bit differently. I throw it more down the middle instead of off the plate.
“That’s what I started going – getting outs in the zone instead of out of the zone.”
Or to put it another way, Large stopped “nibbling” – especially with his cutter.
Good move.
In 34 relief appearances with the Sea Dogs, Large was 3-0 with eight saves and a near-invisible 1.08.
In 41 2/3 innings, he allowed only 31 hits plus 14 walks and struck out 34.
As a result, he was promoted to the Pawtucket Red sox on July 12. But it was almost back to square one because he allowed 10 runs in his first 11 1/3 innings.
Catcher Mark Wagner, who worked with Large at Portland, knew what was happening.
“He was trying too hard,” said Wagner. “You come up here and you put more pressure on yourself because you’re trying to impress everybody.
“He was pumping it up a little bit and over-throwing. With a cutter, it flattens out instead of having that sharp cut that it should have.”
After a few side sessions with PawSox pitching coach Rich Sauveur, Large began pitching like he did with the Sea Dogs.
In his last five relief appearances through August 21, he’s 1-0 with one save and a 0.00 ERA.
Over 11 2/3 innings he’s allowed only seven hits and two walks.
“I came up here and lost my mechanics – which happens when you over-throw,” admitted Large. “I got away from what I did in Portland … what I did that enabled me to have success.
“Rich and I figured things out and now I’m pitching the way I should have been all along.”
The way he wished he had pitched in that exhibition game against Detroit.
“That was a real eye-opener,” added Large. “I can’t tell you what I said to myself but I knew I had to do something different. I knew I couldn’t go out there and do the same thing.”
Which he hasn’t much to the pleasure of the Sea Dogs and the PawSox.