Catcher-turned-pitcher Robert Coello made his Triple-A debut with the Pawtucket Red Sox on April 19, 2009 against Lehigh Valley.
Coello blanked the Iron Pigs for 1 1/3 innings and then was sent to Class-A Salem where he was 5-3 with two saves, a 2.05 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 66 innings.
Looking back on Coello’s debut with Pawtucket, one thought stuck in the mind of pitching coach Rich Sauveur.
“If you had asked me a year ago after he pitched that one inning, I would have said ‘Good luck. I hope you have a good education,’” related Sauveur. “But the strides he’s made in the last year are outstanding.
“He very much wants to learn this game of pitching. Ask me now and I’d say the kid has an opportunity because he throws strikes and he’s got velocity on his fastball. He gets a lot of swings and misses with his fastball.
“I’m very hopeful this kid will stay here,” added Sauveur, “and help our team win.”
During his first three outings (one start and two relief appearances) with the PawSox, the 25-year-old right-hander has given every indication he’ll do exactly that — since he was 1-0 with a 0.73 ERA, replete with only five hits plus 19 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings.
In retrospect, those stats are a microcosm of his performance with Portland, where he began the season.
In 14 games (four starts) he was 4-1 with a 3.32 ERA and 51 strikeouts plus only 14 walks in 43 1/3 innings. And in a start against Trenton on June 2, he struck out 11 Thunder batters in 5 2/3 innings.
The underlying point is none of this was supposed to happen after he was picked in the 20th round of the 2004 draft by Cincinnati. But Coello contracted pneumonia, which resulted in severe coughing spasms and eventually he fractured a rib on his right side.
Cincinnati released him in March of 2006 but he signed with the Angels in September and was invited to spring training with the major league club in 2007.
That’s when his career did a complete turnaround.
“They invited me to one of the big league camp workouts and saw me throwing the ball to the bases,” recalled Coello. “(Then Cedar Rapids pitching coach) Pedro Borbon was on the side and when he saw me throwing he said ‘Hey, do that play again.’
“It really shocked him with the velocity that I was throwing from home to the bases. From then on he was joking around saying ‘I’m going to take you to the mound.’
“I said ‘No, no. It’s not going to happen. I’m catching,’” added Coello. “I said I’m hitting the ball well and I feel fine.”
Basically, Coello’s pleas feel on deaf ears.
Two days before the Angels broke camp, he was told he was going to be converted to a pitcher.
“They said it was for the best,” recalled Coello. “One of their catching instructors said ‘You’ve got a plus arm. You could be like (former Angels closer) Troy Percival.’ That’s when it all came about.”
Nor surprisingly, that was the first time Coello pitched – something he didn’t do even in Little League.
“I went to a junior college (Okaloosa-Walton Community College) and put up good numbers there,” said Coello. “I was a big catch-and-throw-guy out of high school (in New Jersey).”
Coello then spent a season in the Arizona Rookie League where, in 20 relief appearances, he was 1-1 with a 1.37 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings.
But a change in the Angels’ minor league regime spelled the end of Coello’s days with the organization.
“A new farm director (Tony Reagins) came in and there was some stuff that went on that I didn’t think was correct,” said Coello. “They decided to go their way. It kind of hurt me in a way because I was fresh into the pitching world. I did well but nobody knew me as a pitcher. They knew me as a catcher.
“At that point, I had been catching without any numbers and pitching with a few numbers. A few teams wanted to sign me (in 2008) but they said they couldn’t do anything even though they liked what they saw.”
Enter one of Boston’s pro scouts, Jaymie Bane.
“One of the Boston guys, Jaymie Bane, told me to go play independent ball,” related Coello. “He knew I needed a place to get exposure.”
That’s exactly what happened.
Coello – who was his own agent – split 2008 between Calgary and Edmonton in the independent Golden Baseball League (whose most notable alumnus at the moment is Boston rookie outfielder Daniel Nava) and was a combined 3-1 with a 3.29 ERA plus 47 whiffs in 41 innings.
“When I first got there I was a little bit off,” admitted Coello. “But then I saw guys I either played against or guys that had been on 40-man (rosters). It was a shocker when I saw those guys. But those older guys helped me out. They helped me build confidence in my pitches.
“The thing was just throwing my pitches, getting them over, attacking the strike zone and trusting my pitches.”
One of the “older guys” who helped Coello was former major league outfielder Felix Jose, who at the time was 43 and was playing for Calgary.
“Felix told me ‘Instead of messing around with guys, attack and attack hard,’” related Coello. “ ‘Attack the strike zone. Don’t be afraid to use your fastball and finish them off with something else. Or, don’t be scared to finish them off with a fastball.
“Talking to the hitters helped me develop my pitching.”
That was evident to Sauveur during winter ball after the 2009 season.
“He was in Mexico during winter ball and then he came to Venezuela where I was for the playoffs,” said Sauveur. “He had gained some velocity on his fastball and his curveball had much better break to it. And he always had the split.
“He’s got to command the fastball like everybody else. But it seems like he’s worked very hard over the past year. To get to this level certainly shows he’s worked very hard.”
After that season of independent ball, Bane entered the picture again. And this time it was even more fortuitous for Coello.
“Jaymie followed me through my time in Canada and once the season was over, a few workouts were set up,” said Coello. “Right after the Blue Jays’ workout, Jaymie called me and asked when I could throw. I said ‘I’ll throw the next day.’
“He saw more maturity in my pitches, A few hours after that, he called me and said the Red Sox had picked up my contract.”
If nothing else, the success enjoyed by Nava has given Coello reason to be encouraged – that if he continues to put up positive numbers who knows if he may get a chance to emulate his former teammate at Salem?
“We all knew he was a good hitter and that it was just a matter of time,” said Coello. “As for me, I can understand as a catcher maybe getting a chance but (pitching) is a whole new position – a new opportunity.
“Both of us kept working and working. Daniel believed as I do that we can play this game at the highest level.”