Hoyt Hopes He Can Earn His Pay With Bullpen Duty

LaMarr Hoyt, who says he doesn’t think he’s playing as well as he’s being paid to play, hopes the bullpen will make him feel like a million dollars again.

After a meeting Tuesday night with Manager Steve Boros, it was decided Hoyt would miss his next start. Then, working in relief Wednesday, he gave up an infield single, a walk, an RBI single and another walk.

This started a four-run inning.

He was booed.

He was replaced.

And the walks are his problem. He usually can throw all of his pitches (he says he has at least 10) for strikes, but he keeps throwing balls. He has walked 18 batters in his last five games.

He walked 20 all of last season.

“I need to be a little more aggressive out there,” said Hoyt, who earns $1 million annually. “I’ve been mad when I’m pitching, and when you lose your cool, you lose games. I’ve been totally mad, and there’s no reason for it. I should be relaxed out there.

“The thing that will help me in the bullpen is that I’ll be able to go after guys with my two best pitches (slider and fastball) and not dance around guys with sidearm curves and changeups.”

But, even out of the bullpen Wednesday, he had trouble. With all his control problems, Hoyt keeps falling behind in the count and hasn’t been able to set up hitters properly.

So he probably will stay out there with Goose and the Gang until he is right.

“I’d like to be doing better this year,” said Hoyt, who spent most of spring training in a rehabilitation center because of an alleged alcohol problem. “No, I don’t think I’m playing as well as I’m being paid to play. I noticed where Steve (Boros) said having to go to the four-man rotation (because of Hoyt’s absence) messed up a few guys. That makes me feel bad. I take these losses personally. Tuesday night (when Dave Dravecky lost, 12-1), I felt as low as anybody, as if I gave up all 12 runs.

“If I hadn’t missed that spring training, would I still have had these problems? I don’t know. I might have the very same record. I started out 2 and 6 the year I won the Cy Young, so I know I’m capable of putting on a winning streak at any time.”

But Hoyt--who is 2-3 with an earned-run average of 5.55--says he’s lucky to be pitching, period.

“I’ve got to tip my hat to (trainer) Dick Dent,” he said. “He’s done amazing things to my arm (including acupressure). I had tendinitis in my rotator cuff last year, and I didn’t think I’d pitch again for a long, long time. I didn’t think my arm would be in shape. Even in spring training, before I left (for rehabilitation), it was killing me. I hadn’t thrown all winter.

“So, if not for Dent, I might not even be pitching. When you strain a rotator cuff, it’s a mental thing. You’ve got to get over that urge to want to rear back and throw as hard as you can every time. It’s been very tough on me this year. But I feel fine now.”

He supposedly will start again Tuesday night against San Francisco.