RSN: How would you describe Justin Masterson the pitcher?
JM: Shoot, I'm a two-seamer guy. A lot of people call it a sinker, but it's a fastball to me. It's kind of like a lefty slider -- I start it in the middle of the plate and it goes down and in to righties. Pitching is all about movement. Plenty of guys throw hard, but I think my ball moves pretty well, which is a big key to my success.
RSN: The scouting reports say your secondary pitches show good potential but lack consistency.
JM: The thing is, my slider…most people only saw me this year at San Diego State. I had a dirty slider when I pitched on the Cape. It was a little inconsistent this season, but it's still a relatively new pitch for me. I learned both my slider and two-seamer when I was on the Cape.
RSN: You learned both pitches just last summer?
JM: I did. I went up to my pitching coach, Ryan Beggs, and told him I didn't think my off-speed stuff was good enough to get me to the next level. I was throwing more of a curve -- a slurvy thing -- and he said, "Let's try a slider." It's worked well for me, and something kind of just clicked with my two-seamer. Now, with the good, consistent coaching I'll get here, I'm looking to improve on all of my pitches. I'm getting paid to become a better pitcher now, so I'm really excited with the road to come.
RSN: What kind of movement do you get on your slider, and how hard do you throw it?
JM: Probably 84-85ish, so it's slow enough to be an off-speed pitch for me but hard enough that my change is beneficial. When I throw a good one, it has a late break with good downward movement. It's almost diagonal, although not as much as a slurve because it's harder.
RSN: When you don't have your good slider, what are you typically doing wrong?
JM: Really, for me, when I lose it…a lack of concentration is what it is. I'm leaving it at my ear instead of being all the way out with it. Good extension is big in pitching. I get good wrist and finger action if I extend well, which is something you can't do if you let it go too much…if it comes out of your hand up here. With no wrist it flattens out. It becomes kind of a floater.
RSN: How would you describe your changeup?
JM: It ranges in the low 80s, and comes in looking more like my four-seamer, but with drop. It drops away to lefties, like my two-seamer, but not as much.
RSN: How do you grip it?
JM: It's a modified circle. I grip it with my pinky and ring finger, with my thumb underneath. It’s pretty much like having a fastball grip with my pinky, ring finger and thumb. My other two fingers just kind of chill on the side. I throw it just like a fastball, and it all works out good. I guess I like crazy grips, because on my two-seamer I hold the tips of my fingers with my thumb on the side of the ball. That's what helps me keep a light grip. I throw it just like a fastball and put pressure on my middle finger to get extra movement.
RSN: The catchers you'll be throwing to here in Lowell are guys you didn't even know two weeks ago. How much will that matter to you?
JM: The biggest thing will be pitch-calling. I know how I pitch guys, but they don't know my mindset yet. That's something that takes time to learn, but if a guy is good, he can catch you. Maybe it's a problem if I cross up the catcher and throw a two-seamer when he's expecting my four-seamer, because my two-seamer moves so much. It will be like "whoosh," and it might hit him on the knee. Then he'll probably start cursing me. If it's one of the Latin guys, he'll curse me in Spanish!
RSN: I've read that you have some catching experience yourself.
JM: I do. My senior year in high school is the first year I didn't catch at all. My freshman year I caught on the JV team, and my sophomore year I pitched in four games and caught the rest. That was around the time I shot up from around 5' 9" to 6' 2" and went from being the back-up point guard on the basketball team to the starting center. My junior year is the first time I pitched more than I caught. Then, going into my senior year, my coach wanted me to just stick to pitching, which I was fine with. That’s where my heart mostly was anyway. He said he considered me good enough to go D1 either way, but felt I probably had a better future as a pitcher.
RSN: You spent two years at Bethel College, in Indiana, before pitching at San Diego State. Why Bethel?
JM: I talked to a lot of schools, and actually planned on going to Notre Dame, but I got sick on the day I was supposed to meet with them and they ended up not rescheduling my visit. Bethel is affiliated with the church where my dad is a pastor, my sister was there, and the baseball program is actually pretty good. They had just had two guys drafted in the ninth round, so I knew that scouts saw you there. But while I really enjoyed my time at Bethel -- I loved the school and the coaches -- I knew that transferring to a program like San Diego State would give me a better opportunity to develop more fully as a pitcher.
RSN: You pitched for Wareham in the Cape Cod League last summer. Having been at a small school like Bethel, how did you get an invite to the Cape?
JM: My coach at Bethel was Seth Zartman -- who is a great man -- and he called Mike Hutcheon, Bethel’s former coach who is now at Air Force. He's good friends with Cooper Farris, the Wareham coach. They brought me up as a fill-in at the beginning of the summer until all of the guys got there. I pitched well, though, so once all of the pitchers they promised jobs to arrived, they asked if I wanted to stay as the closer.
RSN: While you were a starter at Bethel and San Diego State, there is speculation that your career-path will be as a power arm out of the bullpen. What are your thoughts on that?
JM: We've talked, and for now the best way for me to keep my value is to progress as a starter. If, down the road, they want to put me in the bullpen…hey, by all means -- Ill do whatever is best for my career and for the team.
RSN: You were born in Jamaica. Tell us about that.
JM: I was born in Kingston, where my father was serving as the dean of students at the Jamaican Theological Seminary. I was only there for two years, but still claim it as my place. I'm not sure if they'll still claim me, though!
RSN: From there you moved to Ohio?
JM: We actually went to Indiana first. My parents went from Ohio, where my sister was born, to Jamaica, where I was born, to Indiana, where my brother was born. Then we all went back to the same house in Ohio, where they started out, which is owned by the church. It's a neat little cycle, really.
RSN: Which baseball team did you root for?
JM: Growing up not far from Cincinnati, I've been a Reds guy, although when I was younger it was the Cubs. The first game I went to was at Wrigley Field, when I was about six or seven years old. We got there early to hear Orel Hersheiser, who is a good Christian man, do a testimonial before the game. There was really dense fog when we drove into Chicago -- I'm surprised I remember that -- but eventually it rose and became a beautiful day.
RSN: How would you describe Justin Masterson the person?
JM: The Christian faith is what is near and dear to my heart. I love baseball, but it's something I do -- it's not what defines me. I follow Jesus Christ and try to set that perfect example every day. That’s what’s most important in my life.