Tracking the Preaux Career of Scott Dohmann

[NewsCopy]

2003 ... SLEEPER TO WATCH next spring is right-hander Scott Dohmann, who could fill a bullpen role for the Rockies. Dohmann was converted to a reliever at Class AA Tulsa this season, and scouts said his fastball suddenly was consistently in the mid-90-mph range. Dohmann is building off that success in the Arizona Fall League. One of six Rockies prospects with the Mesa Solar Sox, Doh- mann has worked eight scoreless innings, allowing only four hits and a walk and striking out 10 in six appearan- ces.

The other positive development for the Rockies is outfielder Matt Holliday, considered one of the top power prospects in the organization. Holliday is hitting .304 with two home runs, three doubles and nine RBI in 46 at-bats. Even more surprising, Holliday, considered one of the top high school quarterbacks in the country when he signed with the Rockies, is leading the AFL with five stolen bases.

Outfielder Brad Hawpe appears to be settling in. After struggling initially - 4-for-34 in nine games - he went 6-for-11 in his next three games. Second baseman Jayson Nix, one of the younger players in the league, is hitting .222. In addition to Dohmann, Justin Huisman has two saves and a 1.00 earned-run average but has walked seven batters in nine games. Chris Buglovsky has a 5.13 ERA in four appearances, three of them starts.

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[Pirogue]

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Rookie reliever hopes his early troubles are behind him

DENVER -- Colorado Rockies rookie reliever Scott Dohmann knew there was a reason he gave up two runs against Boston on June 17. More important, he knew the reason wasn't that he was nervous or in awe of the hitters. He was past that point.

Dohmann felt if he could pinpoint the problem, he could excel.

"I watched the tape, and the balls that were getting hit hard were right over the plate and belt-high, something they could get ahold of," Dohmann said. "They weren't doing anything with the changeup or the slider. That told me right there what I needed to work on."

Since then, Dohmann has worked five straight scoreless appearances, a total of 6 2/3 innings. His work was a key to the Rockies' 11-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night. Jason Jennings barely held a lead after five innings of what had been a slugfest for both teams. But Dohmann shut down the Tigers for two innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.

"Dohmann's been hot," manager Clint Hurdle said. "He's been a little bit of a go-to guy lately."

Dohmann's recent work would be the proper way to impress the manager.

"When I first came up here, I was grunting, trying to impress people by throwing the fastball as hard as I could," said Dohmann, who gave up seven runs in his first 9 2/3 innings. "That's not going to cut it up here."

Dohmann will always have a violent delivery. But through sessions with pitching coach Bob Apodaca, Dohmann has learned to control some of the movement so that it doesn't cause his fastball to rise over the middle of the plate.

The rest of the story

By Thomas Harding
MLB.com

[NewsCopy]

When the Los Angeles Dodgers started to show offensive life in the eighth inning Tuesday night, Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle didn't hesitate to call on reliever Scott Dohmann to regain control of the game for the Rockies.

And Dohmann responded, striking out Shawn Green and Juan Encarnacion and stranding two runners in the Rockies' 7-2 victory. Dohmann also worked the ninth.

The rookie right-hander is quickly emerging as a key part of the bullpen. He is creating enough confidence that it wouldn't be surprising that by season's end, Dohmann could provide some backup help for closer Shawn Chacon. Left-hander Brian Fuentes, once he comes off the disabled list, is another option.

With 12/3 innings Tuesday, Doh- mann extended his scoreless streak to 151/3 innings in his past 14 appearances.

It's a sharp contrast from the way his big-league career began. Doh- mann allowed runs in five of his first six appearances. He gave up eight runs in 92/3 innings.

In consecutive appearances, he gave up a home run to San Francisco's Barry Bonds on June 6 at Coors Field, a grand slam to the Yankees' John Flaherty on June 10 at Yankee Stadium and a home run to Boston's Jason Varitek on June 16 at Coors Field. And the day after Varitek's home run, he gave up two more runs against Boston.

"That Boston game was a key," Dohmann said. "After that . . . I looked at what happened. I was getting hurt on all fastballs up. Not my slider. Not my changeup. In the bullpen, I worked on keeping my fastball down. Then I got some hitters out and started getting run out (to pitch) regularly."

The Rockies have shown confidence in Dohmann lately. He pitched in a game the Rockies won only three times in his first 10 appearances. He has pitched in nine victories during his past 10 appearances.

"That's something I appreciate," he said. "Being given the ball at that time is a gift. I don't take it for granted."

The source of the story

By Tracy Ringolsby
Rocky Mountain News

[CajunCall]

How many Cajuns are in the majors right now?

[BirdofParadise]

Three. Dohmann, Paul Bako, and BJ Ryan.

Ryan is a free agent at the end of the season and is getting ready to be rich. He's the best in baseball at getting left handers out. Left handed relief specialists draw really good bucks.

Incidently, Dohmann was tagged with the loss yesterday in the Rockies loss to the Dodgers. He entered the game with a runner on first and gave up a two run homer.

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Right-handed reliever Scott Dohmann, who spent last winter in the Arizona Fall League, is headed home to Louisiana this off-season, where he plans to enjoy his first child, born earlier this month.

However, he will spend plenty of time making refinements in his pitching with the idea of improving on the mound next year.

"Usually I've had to go home and get a job, but, fortunately, I made enough (on major league salary) that I can go home and have some family time," he said. "I've taken notes on things we've worked on this season and things to remember about how I feel when my mechanics are right. To know what my body feels like when I'm (mechanically correct) is key."

The Rockies envision Dohmann as a reliever who can work in late innings and get a strikeout. But he does have to be more consistent in the strike zone. He struck out 47 in his first 441/3 innings, but he also allowed eight home runs.

"My whole career, I'm a guy who has missed up (in the strike zone)," he said. "That leads to fly balls. I need to stay through the ball. If I make mistakes I need to make them down."

The source of the story

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Apodaca likes fearless reliever's makeup

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Right-handed reliever Scott Dohmann didn't quite have command of his mechanics when he was called up to the Colorado Rockies last season.

But Dohmann also didn't have any fear, so the Rockies figured they could work on the other part. Dohmann (0-3, 4.11 ERA in 41 games) had some rough patches, including giving up seven homers in his first 26 appearances. But he also had a 14-game scoreless streak, and finished the year giving up just one homer in his final 16 appearances.

With 49 strikeouts in 46 innings, Dohmann was one of the bright spots in a bullpen whose struggles bore much of the responsibility for Colorado's 68-94 finish. Now Dohmann has a chance to play a key role in a 2005 bullpen that will be young but does have some raw ability.

"His makeup is fearless," Rockies pitching coach Bob Apodaca said. "You're never going to have to tell him, 'Come on, let's pick up the intensity.' It's there. He's very, very intelligent. He has the ability to absorb some information and then start to apply it. "

Dohmann, 26, who converted from starter to reliever at Double-A Tulsa in 2003 and had little Triple-A experience last season before being promoted, and had to make a quick decision after some of the rough outings. Would he base his strategy and mechanics on what hitters were doing against him, or would he trust the fastball and slider that got him to the Majors and work on making those pitches better?

The rest of the story

By Thomas Harding
MLB.com

[NewsCopy]

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Maybe right-handed reliever Scott Dohmann will soon be able to enjoy reading the paper again.

"I'm tried of looking at that ERA from the first month in the paper," Dohmann said from the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox's clubhouse on Monday afternoon. "I'm ready to start bringing that sucker down."

By the end of the evening, Dohmann received his wish as the Rockies recalled him from Colorado Springs on Monday night. His next project is wiping out the 18.60 ERA he posted in nine April appearances before the Rockies sent him down on April 28.

Dohmann will replace right-hander Zach Day, who was acquired from Washington on July 13 and appeared in two games for Colorado. Day had been on the Nationals' disabled list because of a wrist injury before the trade, and he had experienced shoulder tightness since joining the Rockies.

Dohmann was confident enough that he would return to the Majors that he didn't give up his place in the Denver area after being sent down. The reliever made the commute of some 75 miles for every home game, and he returned afterward to his wife, Tara, and son, Kristopher Gavin, who was born last Sept. 17.

Because of injuries and a tight budget, the Rockies started the season with four rookies in their bullpen and an uncertain closer situation because of a shoulder injury to rookie closer Chin-hui Tsao. Many key innings fell to Dohmann, whose struggles symbolized the lack of experience on the relief staff. He gave up five home runs in 6 2/3 innings and went 0-1 with two blown saves.

The Rockies' bullpen was 1-7 with a 9.00 ERA and nine blown saves before Dohmann and fellow rookie right-hander Ryan Speier were sent to Colorado Springs on the same day. Colorado went with veterans to stabilize the situation and give the youngsters much-needed Minor League innings.

Last season, Dohmann went 0-3 with a 4.11 ERA but left the Rockies encouraged by posting 49 strikeouts in 46 innings. He earned an Opening Day spot with his strong Spring Training (1-0, 3.65 ERA, 13 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings).

But Dohmann, 27, said subtle changes led to big problems.

"I made things too complicated this offseason," he said. "I tried to get too perfect with mechanics and everything else. I came through the system gripping and throwing. That's the way I learned how to pitch. That's how I became successful."

The rest of the story

By Thomas Harding
MLB.com

[JMV JustMyView]

Scott Dohmann was just called back up from the minors to the big show about 2 days ago. Good luck Scott....

[DaddyCajun]

Scott Dohmann was just called back up from the minors to the big show about 2 days ago. Good luck Scott....

Ditto! The more players in the Bigs UL has the better recruiting should get!


Congrats,
DaddyCajun

[CAJUNJUDO]

Dohmann faced 4 batters yesterday against Arizona. Gave up 1 hit, but got 3 strikeouts! ....More importantly he lowered his ERA by more than 2.5 runs to 16.43.