Zink ranked third in nation
SCAD baseball pitcher Charlie Zink may not have a great record, but his arm has led him to a national ranking this season.

Zink (1-6) is ranked third in the nation by the NCAA in total number of strikeouts. He is SCAD’s No. 1 pitcher. His fastball, mixed with a slider, split finger fastball and changeup have confounded 57 batters this year.

In addition, Zink is ranked 22nd in the country for strikeouts per inning with 11.5.

There is one guy worthy of note on the Red Sox: Charlie Zink. You may look for him in vain on the Top 30 prospect list, though that may change. We saw him last Friday at Vero. Looked at his record, before the game-5-9 with an ERA over 4, and some 50 W in 85 IP. First batter, I notice something. He's got a hitch in his delivery, I tell Kirkwood. Plants his foot, then throws. First batter gets an infield hit; Joel Guzman triples, and Loney grounds out. 2 runs already. Then it hits me-this is Tim Wakefield. Can't remember if other knucklers do it like that-the lead foot hits, and then he throws. But Wakefield sure does. Zink then proceeds to fan Franklin Gutierrez and Willie Aybar on knucklers that have them shaking their heads. He goes 7, allowing just 2 more hits and 1 walk, fanning 6. Dominating performance. I go home and send an EMAIL to Gullo about him and look him up on the web. He wasn't even drafted. The whole story raises so many questions. The kid threw 95 in college, with a slider, changeup and a splitter. Got to be in a major program, right?? Wrong. He went to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD to its students). What?? Must have had a killer record there, right?? No. His senior year, his team was 11-31, and at one point, he was 1-6. That one victory ended the 46-game winning streak of that well-known power, Savannah State. And get this: The coach at SCAD was Luis Tiant. What is a kid that throws 95, with other pitches doing at SCAD? For that matter, what is Luis Tiant doing coaching SCAD? And how could a team coached by Luis Tiant go 11-31? How could a pitcher with that arsenal and Luis Tiant as a coach go 1-6? Anyway, Zink did not get drafted in 2001, despite the arsenal. He spent a little time at Yuma in an Indy league, and shows up in 2002 with the Red Sox. Despite his lack of pro experience, they send him to full season ball at Augusta as a reliever. He flourishes. ERA of 1.68 in 48 innings; 42 H, and a BB/K ratio of 16/48. Gets a late-season look at Sarasota in the Florida State League, allowing 0 earned runs and 2 H in 9 innings, with 11 K's. Still throwing conventionally. So, with no pro experience, he pitched well in Low A and very well in a cameo at High A. Like every pitcher in the world, he fooled around with the knuckler in college, and the Sox say, fool around with it some in Spring training; might make a great complementary pitch. He likes it so well, he decides to go the hard route of becoming a full-time knuckler. And they convert him back to a starter, even though he had success as a reliever with a strong conventional repertoire. Go figure. So this is his first year throwing the knuckler, and from his season thus far, this is a guy to watch. He will be 24 in August, but age means little to a knuckler. He was probably not on the Red Sox radar screen before the season, or else they wouldn't have made such a radical change. Bet he is now.

MINOR LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Zink gets grip on knuckler
By Bob Hohler, Globe Staff, 8/10/2002

Like a prized heirloom, the knuckleball has been passed down from the likes of Hoyt Wilhelm and brothers Joe and Phil Niekro to the game's reigning king of the pitch, Tim Wakefield.
And Wakefield has done his part not only to save the knuckler from extinction but to keep it in the hands of a Red Sox prospect: Charlie Zink.
Like Wakefield, who was 23 when he started learning the knuckler as a way to stay in professional baseball after he flopped as a hitter in the Pirates organization, Zink was 23 in spring training when the Sox persuaded him to abandon his traditional pitching style for the knuckleball.
A hard-throwing righthander, Zink was signed last year as an undrafted free agent on the recommendation of Luis Tiant, his former coach at Savannah College of Art and Design. He fared well in his pro debut, going 1-2 with a 1.41 ERA in 30 relief appearances last season at Single A Augusta and Sarasota.
But the Sox figured his best shot at making the majors was mastering the knuckleball. Enter Wakefield. Several times in spring training, Zink studied Wakefield's outings, then received private tutorials. ''It's kind of neat to mentor somebody and try to keep the art going,'' Wakefield said.
Zink has put the lessons to good use. After going 7-9 with a 3.90 ERA in 24 outings for Sarasota and ranking second in the South Atlantic League with 136 innings, he was promoted to Double A Portland, where he surrendered two runs over 5 1/3 innings while striking out seven last Monday in his debut. He has held batters to a .241 average while trying to master his command of the knuckleball. He has walked 68 in 141 1/3 innings and struck out 101.
Even though Wakefield will be 39 when his current contract expires in 2005, he may still have a couple more years left since the most successful knuckleballers have remained effective in their 40s. He has encouraged Zink to follow in his footsteps.
''It's just a matter of doing it consistently enough,'' Wakefield said. ''He just needs to get used to throwing it in a game and knowing how to get it over the plate and knowing how to make it move a little more. The more he does it, the better he's going to be.''

Knuckleballers a dying breed
By Ryan Metcalfe, IJ reporter

OAKLAND - Boston Red Sox knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield falls into the same category as the cowboy and the record album. People may see them as a dying breed, but there will always be a room in baseball for knuckleball pitchers, vinyl and someone to punch cattle.
Wakefield turned 37 last week and he seems to be in the prime of his career as the preeminent knuckleballer in baseball. There aren't many left, but tomorrow's scheduled starter against the A's is part of both the past and future of baseball's rarest and most difficult pitch to hit.
Wakefield digs two bent fingers into the ball and extends the fingers as he releases it. The idea is to get it to leave his hand with no spin. The aerodynamics of the air brushing past the ball's seams can result in wacky, unpredictable fluttering.
"It is something that you have to continue to work on," he said. "It is something you have to experiment with try to make better or be more consistent with it. You constantly have to adjust just to stay up here."
The 1945 Washington Senators - depleted by players serving in World War II - had a rotation of four knuckleball pitchers, but there have been only a few in every generation. The only other knuckleballer of Wakefield's generation is Steve Sparks, now with Detroit.
In the 1950s, Hoyt Wilhelm established a Hall of Fame career with the knuckleball and in the '60s Phil Niekro followed. There was also Phil's brother, Joe Niekro, and Charlie Hough through the '70s and early '80s. Tom Candiotti followed, bridging the gap to Wakefield, but it was starting to look as if there would be no one to continue the brotherhood.
"In the course of baseball there really haven't been a whole lot of people who throw it and I don't know why," Wakefield said. "My philosophy is nobody is going to get drafted out of high school or college because they throw it
because they are so worried about the radar gun.
"It is a feel pitch and a lot of organizations don't like the unknown about it. When it is going good, you can make it look easy and it can be embarrassing to the hitters. When it is going bad it can look really bad out there. It is a matter of an organization having faith and sticking with a guy. This organization has had a lot of faith in me going through the tough times and has not given up on me."
Wakefield, who set the Florida Tech record for home runs in a season (22) and in a career (40), was drafted as a first baseman in 1988. The Pirates organization didn't have much optimism for his future as a hitter, but he managed to hang on by showing the club his knuckleball. Three years later, he was the Pirates' top pitcher in the 1992 playoffs as a rookie, picking up two wins in the NLCS.
The next season he was sent back to the minors after posting a 6-11 record with a 5.61 ERA - a far cry from the 8-1, 2.15 he posted as a rookie. He continued to struggle or the next season until his hometown Red Sox signed him.
In 1995, he rebounded with a 16-8 mark and a 2.95 ERA. The Red Sox have stuck with him as he has posted ERAs from 2.81 to 5.48 the past seven seasons, always eating up innings and usually picking up more wins than losses.
Wakefield and the Red Sox hope to be the source of league's next knuckleballer. Since the late '90s, Wakefield has helped hone the knuckleball skills of Jared Fernandez, who at 31 was called up by the Houston Astros this month. Fernandez has bounced up and down the past three seasons between the minors and majors, playing for the Reds and Astros after the Red Sox let him become a minor-league free agent in 2000.
The Sox may have given up on Fernandez, but there are now taking stock in Charlie Zink, who was promoted from Class-A Sarasota to Double-A Portland this month and has compiled an 8-10 mark with a 3.83 ERA.
"We are excited about what Charlie has been able to do this year," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said. "He has come a long way. We would love to have another knuckleballer on the team in a couple of years."
Of course, they aren't easy to find or develop.
"Charlie wasn't a knuckleballer at first and Wakefield was an infielder who became a knuckleballer once his career as a hitter wasn't going anywhere," Epstein said. "Charlie was a regular pitcher who had a great knuckleball and we thought he was a little short as a regular pitcher, but our organizational guys did a great job recognizing him as a knuckleballer and with a great attitude and a lot of hard work he's taken his game to where it is."
Wakefield feels a kinship to Zink and almost an obligation to help knuckleballers succeed.
"I hope he can continue working on it," Wakefield said of Zink.
Of course, hitters might prefer that there aren't any more knuckleballers coming through the ranks. The current A's roster has a composite .237 average against Wakefield (32 hits in 135 at-bats, including 30 strikeouts).
About the only A's player who has success against Wakefield is catcher Ramon Hernandez (4-for-12, two homers, a double and seven RBIs), and he offers little explanation for his success.
"You want them to get the ball up a little because the high ones are easier to hit," Hernandez said, "but even then they can sink so much that you can't get hit."
Even if he sees Wakefield well at the plate, Hernandez hopes the A's don't develop a knuckleballer anytime soon.
"I don't want to catch one of those guys," he says.

It didn't seem like a fair deal for the Portland Sea Dogs when they lost a top pitching prospect, Jorge De La Rosa, to Triple-A. In return they got an undrafted pitcher from Class A who is tinkering with a knuckleball.
But Charlie Zink could become a big acquisition for the Sea Dogs.
Zink (1-0) threw a four-hitter over 6 2/3 innings to help Portland to a 5-3 victory Sunday against the Binghamton Mets before 6,975 at Hadlock Field.

To be a playoff team, Portland needs pitching, which makes Zink's performance so important. De La Rosa will be missed, but Zink can provide a lift. He's the only knuckleball pitcher most Eastern League teams will oppose.
"He's the only guy like that we've faced all year," said Mets designated hitter Chris Basak. "It's something we're not used to. You have to go out and find an approach that works. It didn't seem like we were able to do that today."
Zink, 23, wasn't drafted after college in 2002, but the Red Sox signed him on the advice of his former coach at Savannah College of Art and Design - Luis Tiant.
Zink messed with a knuckleball last season "but only with two outs and no one on," he said.
"Then in spring training they said maybe we should work on it," Zink said. "They said I'd probably take a step back and then take two steps forward. I went for it."
In spring training, Zink spent a few days with Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.
"I was so raw then, trying to throw it too hard," Zink said. "But less is more with the knuckleball. It's fun to throw."
Zink went 7-9 in Class A Sarasota with a 3.90 ERA. The Red Sox see so much promise in Zink, they plan to send him to the Arizona Fall League for top prospects.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — Portland Sea Dogs pitcher Charlie Zink converted to the knuckleball after topping out in the 90 mph range in Class A last season. The New Britain Rock Cats are wishing he stuck to his fastball.
Zink made his third Double-A start a gem by tossing no-hit ball through seven innings Friday night as the Sea Dogs shut out the Rock Cats 8-0 before an overflow crowd of 6,521 at New Britain Stadium.
Zink (2-1) lost the no-hitter when Matt Scanlon slapped a single through the box and into center field on the first pitch of the eighth. The ball clipped Zink on his pitching hand and he left to a standing ovation.
"I overreacted. I had more time than I thought," Zink said. "I went down so fast and saw it shoot to the right. My hand was getting ready to go in my glove and grab it. It hit my knuckles and my fingers went numb.
"I wanted to keep throwing but they didn't want me to throw anymore."
Zink threw 79 pitches, walked none and struck out three.
"If I'm throwing it for strikes I'm real happy," Zink said. "If I'm getting it over I don't have much to worry about. If I get it over, the hitters get themselves out."
Left-hander James Johnson came on to retire six straight to notch his fifth save.
Zink was schooled on the art of throwing the knuckler in spring training by Tim Wakefield, who was a disciple of Rock Cats Manager Stan Cliburn when Cliburn managed at Watertown in the short season New York-Penn League in 1988.
"He reminded me of a Wakefield performance when I had him in (Class) A ball," Cliburn said. "He could throw 3-1 knuckleballs over for strikes. You've got to tip your hat to a kid who can do that."

ZINK'S NEAR NO-HITTER KEEPS PORTLAND IN PLAYOFF RACE
Knuckleballer Loses No-Hitter with Two Out in Ninth Inning of 2-1 Win over New Haven
08/30/2003



Charlie Zink carried a no-hitter two outs into the ninth inning and allowed a run on two hits over 8 2/3 innings as the Portland Sea Dogs nipped the New Haven Ravens 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at Hadlock Field.

Matt Logan hit a bloop double with two outs in the ninth inning in front of diving left fielder Kevin Haverbusch to break up the no-hitter. Zink left to a standing ovation after giving up an RBI single to Shawn Fagan. Scott Aldred picked up the final out for his seventh save.

Zink (3-2) allowed three walks and two hits over 8 2/3 innings for his third Double-A win. He also carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in a start on August 15 at New Britain.

SARASOTA RED SOX (A)
Righthander Charlie Zink, 24, logged 175.1 innings this season between Sarasota and Portland, going 10-11 with a 3.80 ERA in 30 games. His 10 wins tied for second among Red Sox minor leaguers and his 112 strikeouts were 4th-most in the organization.

By Rob Neyer
ESPN.com

I have seen the future of the knuckleball, and his name is Zink. Charlie Zink.


This weekend, I was in Phoenix for Ron Shandler's First Pitch Arizona, a symposium for serious fantasy baseball owners. I enjoy the symposium, but the real draw is the baseball, as the Arizona Fall League is in full swing. And Saturday afternoon in Mesa, I was treated to a dream pitching matchup: the Mesa Desert Dogs' Charlie Zink vs. the Mesa Solar Sox's Dewon Brazelton.


Most prospect hounds would be excited about Brazelton, and he was impressive, showing off a solid fastball, a good slider, and a killer changeup while striking out nine Dogs in five innings. But it was Charlie Zink I wanted to see, because Zink, a Red Sox farmhand, is easily the best young knuckleball pitcher in the world. He didn't disappoint, either, allowing just one hit and one walk in five innings.


Zink hadn't fared well in the AFL before Saturday, in part (I suspect) because the knuckleball doesn't dance its normal dance at the Valley's somewhat lofty altitude. But I don't think the Red Sox will hold it against him. 2003 was just Zink's second minor-league season, and here's how he's done so far:



Age Level IP H HR BB SO ERA
22 A 57 44 1 19 59 1.42
23 A/AA/AFL 201 170 16 91 128 3.94



Now, let's look at Tim Wakefield's first three seasons as a knuckleballer:



Age Level IP H HR BB SO ERA
22 A- 40 30 30 21 42 3.40
23 A 190 187 24 85 127 4.73
24 AA 183 155 13 51 120 2.90



Wakefield and Zink were both born in August, which makes comparing them particularly appropriate. And Zink is clearly ahead of Wakefield at the same age. Zink was better at 22, he was better at 23, and at both ages he was pitching against tougher competition. Does this mean that Zink's going to follow Wakefield's career path? Of course not. Wakefield broke through at 24, in Double-A, and there's no guarantee that Zink will.


But Zink will open next season in Double-A, and he'll be 24. As near as I can tell, here's a list of the last three pitchers who had good knuckleballs when they were 24 years old, along with how many games they won in the major leagues:


Wakefield, 116 (so far)
Charlie Hough, 216
Phil Niekro, 318


(Actually, when Niekro was 24 he was in U.S. Army. But he was a pretty good minor-league knuckleballer at 23 and 25.)


The point here is that not many pitchers can throw a knuckleball for strikes while in their early 20s, and the ones who can generally enjoy long major-league careers.


But nobody seems to realize how good Charlie Zink might be. Scouts and writers see Charlie Zink and they think, "Oh, isn't that cute. He throws a knuckleball. If everything works out for him, he's got a chance to be a decent pitcher someday."


One writer, evaluating the Mesa Desert Dogs, listed Zink as a "Sleeper Pitcher" and concluded, "Future #5 Starter/Reliever."


Another writer admitted that "Zink is a very interesting pitcher," and recommended, "Keep an eye on him."


Wrong, guys. I'm going to keep both eyes on him, because he's going to be a good major-league pitcher, a better major-league pitcher than the great majority of the pitchers in the Arizona Fall League who are considered better prospects.


Among all the pitchers in the Arizona Fall League, Zink has the best chance, by far, of enjoying a healthy career, and (to a lesser extent) he also has the best chance of enjoying a long and productive career. Baseball today isn't particularly friendly to knuckleball pitchers -- it's too easy for a mistake to become a home run -- so I don't think it's all that likely that Zink will become a star. If you're looking for a star in the Arizona Fall League, your better bets are Dewon Brazelton, Neal Cotts, or Boof Bonser.


But those guys all have the talent to be No. 1 starters in the major leagues, and Charlie Zink is not that far behind them. I think Zink is likely to have a career something like Tim Wakefield's. And he might be Phil Niekro.

4. Charlie Zink - RHP - Age 24 - ETA: July 2005
7-9, 3.90 ERA, 123 H, 94/64 K/BB in 136 IP for Single-A Sarasota
3-2, 3.43 ERA, 21 H, 18/14 K/BB in 39 1/3 IP for Double-A Portland
1-2, 4.91 ERA, 26 H, 16/13 K/BB in 25 2/3 IP for Mesa Desert Dogs (AFL)

Zink, who went undrafted as a conventional pitcher, became a full-time knuckleballer last season and showed a remarkable talent for the pitch, even if his minor league numbers weren’t exactly overwhelming.  By emulating Tim Wakefield as much as he can, he gets consistent movement on the knuckler.  He doesn’t have Wakefield’s control, but if he keeps making progress, he could be able to help the Red Sox in the second half of 2004 or in 2005.

8. Charlie Zink RHP…..24…..2002 FA Savannah College of Arts and Design
Strengths: 63-71 MPH knuckle-ball and 84-88 MPH two-seam fastball. Deceptive delivery
Weaknesses: Command
Comments: He made the transition from conventional pitcher to a knuckle-baller in late-2002, and worked extensively with Tim Wakefield during spring training. A smallish-type pitcher, he didn’t show a lot of stamina or performance, despite a fastball topping-out at 94 MPH. His knuckle-ball moves well, as you would expect, and has toned-down the velocity of his fastball to make his arm speed more deceptive, but struggles with command and consistency from outing-to-outing... There is no way to project knuckle-ball pitchers, but his name should be tucked-away for future reference.

Can Zink be another Wakefield for Boston?

By John Sickels
Special to ESPN.com


Matt B. from Sacramento writes: The Red Sox have a knuckle-balling prospect by the name of Charlie Zink. I've read varying things about his future, some, such as Rob Neyer, suggest he could be a big-time major league contributor, while others see him as a possible fifth starter/swingman. What are your thoughts, and is he a prospect?


The Sox signed Zink as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He is 24 years old, has 238 professional innings to his credit, with a 3.26 ERA and 177/101 K/BB ratio. Most of that has been at the A-ball level. But he did put in 39 innings in Double-A last year, posting a 3.43 ERA, though with a mediocre 18/14 K/BB ratio. His walk rate isn't bad at all, but his strikeouts are pretty low.


Rob Neyer is a very good friend of mine. He admits himself that he has something of a knuckleball fetish, and he knows more about the pitch and those who rely on it than I do. He could be right about Zink. Statistically, his numbers aren't super-impressive, but the knuckleball is a hard thing to predict. Zink could turn into Tim Wakefield. But he could just as easily be Steve Sparks. We need to see more to be sure.


Wakefield's minor league track record was erratic, and given the nature of the knuckleball, normal predictive methods don't necessarily apply to guys like this. Zink is certainly a prospect, and bears close watching. But I don't think we have a firm read on how good he will or won't be at this point.

are they projecting Zink as a starter or more like Wake was when he first came up as a spot starter but mostly floting around in the pen.
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That's fantastic. I knew the ball went for a wild ride whenever it left Wake's hand, but I had no idea why. I suppose technique is all you really need for a knuckler, technique and a decent second pitch.

Awesome post.
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are they projecting Zink as a starter or more like Wake was when he first came up as a spot starter but mostly floting around in the pen.
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