By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Tim Crabbe received a medical redshirt during his junior year at Westmont College. A wrist injury derailed his season after just three appearances on the mound. Crabbe never used that season of college eligibility. One year later he heard his name called in the Major League Baseball draft.
The Arizona native went from playing ball at a small NAIA school in Southern California to the Rookie Pioneer League. In between he spent a summer in the New York Collegiate Baseball League. Now he is on the doorstep of Major League Baseball.
Crabbe (pronounced crab) arrived in Geneva in June of 2008. He hadn’t thrown a pitch in more than two months. An injured scaphoid, one of the carpal bones located near the thumb, kept him from action during what was supposed to be his junior year of college. He came to the NYCBL looking to get innings. The right-hander received just what needed.
“That was my first game action since early March of that year,” Crabbe said prior to a recent International League game at Frontier Field. “That was huge for me to be able to come up there and get those innings and experience and confidence that my wrist was feeling better.”
Crabbe made 11 appearances, all out of the bullpen, for the Geneva Red Wings that summer. He went 1-0 in 15 innings of work.
“It was a lot of fun,” Crabbe recalled. “It really helped me get to where I am now.”
The Cincinnati Reds selected Crabbe in the 14th round (No. 419 overall) of the 2009 First Year Player Draft. Now in his sixth professional season, the right-hander has made a steady climb through the Reds’ farm system.
“It’s definitely been a good ride so far.”
Crabbe pitched for Billings during 2009. He made the jump to Dayton of the Single-A Midwest League in 2010. He was promoted to Advanced-A and Bakersfield in 2011. He earned Southern League (Double-A) Mid-Season All Star honors while pitching for Pensacola in 2013. Currently, Crabbe has made five starts for the Triple-A Louisville Bats.
“Early on I was more of a thrower,” Crabbe explained. “From where I was as a freshman in college to when I was drafted I felt like I had come a long way. Then when I got to pro ball, I realized there is even a longer way to go. Early on I struggled with command.”
Crabbe has made a series of adjustments throughout his career to adapt to each level of play.
“The biggest thing for me was watching other guys make it or watching guys in the big leagues pitch and seeing these guys throw the ball where they want to throw the ball. If you want to have that success you have to figure out a way to do that. It’s not easy and I still struggle at times with not throwing strikes.”
Crabbe walked 55 while striking out 76 in 82-plus innings of work with Dayton during the 2010 campaign. He has logged at least 135 frames in each of the three seasons since then. Crabbe fanned 109 and issued 43 free passes in 153 innings of work between Double-A and Triple-A in 2013.
“I changed some things mechanically. I was throwing really high arm slot over the top. That kinda made it so that my head was out of the picture. I tried to lower that a little bit so that I could have my eyes parallel to the ground and see the catcher and just focus on that. Be more consistent. When I was up top, I was inconsistent.”
Despite playing at a higher level, Crabbe’s 2013 ERA of 3.06 was the lowest in his career. He did this while maintaining ground ball to fly out ratio of .90.
“If you don’t make the adjustments, someone else is,” Crabbe stated. “It’s a business. They will take the guy who’s making the adjustments. Being fortunate to have the right people around me to make those adjustments on and off the field has been a big help.”
For Crabbe one of those adjustments came during the summer of 2008 when he learned the value of working between games.
“I met some guys who were big into training off the field,” Crabbe recalled. “I was able to get a lot of work done that way. The coaches, too, were big on it.”
Crabbe and his teammates spent time at the personal training facility of Geneva assistant coach and former professional boxer Ray Ciancaglini.
“Ray let us use his basement gym. It’s pretty nice. He was nice enough to let us show up whenever we wanted to lift.”
Crabbe and the Geneva Red Wings earned a Wild Card spot in 2008. He held opposing hitters to .176 at the plate while finishing with an ERA of 1.80. He struck out 16, walked five and allowed just one extra-base hit.
“Bus trips were always fun,” Crabbe said. “That’s what college baseball especially summer baseball should be about – meeting different people. You’re getting this experience of what else is out there and what is different about the game of baseball.”
Crabbe is one 12 of Westmont College alums selected in the MLB Draft. He was the first since 1988. Fourteen former NYCBL players are currently playing Triple-A ball.
Ciancaglini is the founder of The Second Impact dedicated to concussion awareness and potential repercussions. He will be the keynote speaker this summer during the 32nd Annual Conference for the Brain Injury Association of New York. The NYCBL will sponsor Ciancaglini’s efforts at the conference.
Paul Gotham is the founder, owner, editor and lead writer at Pickin’ Splinters. Paul is the Communications Director of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He is a contributor at USA Today and member of the USBWA. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PickinSplinters.
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