Toth Runs Circles Past Hitters

Robert Toth struck out 11 in a Carolina League game earlier this season, picked up the paper the next day and read a quote from an opposing player complimenting his “nice slider.”

Fooled ‘em again.

“It was a nice changeup ,” said Toth, a former Pacifica High School standout now pitching for the Kansas City Royals’ Class-A team at Wilmington, Del. “Sometimes it goes straight, sometimes it acts like a curve or slider. It does different things on different days.”

Toth learned the “circle changeup” from former Angel pitcher Bert Blyleven in a scout league two winters ago. It’s a pitch that’s as quirky and unpredictable as Blyleven’s personality, but it could be Toth’s ticket to the big leagues.

When your fastball is clocked in the 80-84 m.p.h. range and can’t be slipped by anyone above rookie league, you have to rely on something different.

“I throw off-speed stuff and keep hitters off-balance,” said Toth, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound right-hander. “I can’t really tell what my changeup is going to do, but I can throw it any time I want, even on 3-2 counts.”

Control is Toth’s other forte. As a senior at Pacifica in 1990, Toth struck out 103 and walked only five in 77 innings for a phenomenal 20-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He went 8-4 with an 0.82 earned-run average and was a Times All-Orange County selection.

A 10th-round pick of the Royals out of high school, Toth has made slow but steady progress, going 2-2 with a 1.66 ERA in the Gulf Coast rookie league in 1990, 2-3 with a 2.83 ERA at Class-A Baseball City, Fla., in 1991 and 7-6 with a 3.39 ERA at Class-A Appleton, Wis., in 1992. Toth had 164 strikeouts and 61 walks in his first three professional seasons.

Despite a streak from June 17 to Aug. 3, during which Toth went without a victory but with many no-decisions, he is still a solid 8-6 this season, with a 3.05 ERA, 116 strikeouts and 36 walks in 135 2/3 innings.

“I’ve just been able to throw strikes all my life--it comes easy to me,” said Toth, who turned 21 on July 30. “I’ve walked a few more this year than usual because I’m working on more off-speed pitches when I’m behind on the count.”

Toth hopes to juice up his fastball next winter, though. For the first time, Toth will undergo an intense weight-training and nutrition program in hopes of adding some pounds to his body and velocity to his pitches.

“I’m tired of being skinny--I’ve weighed 185 for four years,” Toth said. “It’s genetic. I’ve tried eating a ton of food every day, but my metabolism is so high it burns real quickly. But I’m really going to work on that this off-season.”

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Race Carr: It’s almost noon when the phone rings in Jeremy Carr’s hotel room. The Eugene (Ore.) Royals second baseman swears you didn’t wake him, but his voice, groggy and raspy, says otherwise.

Then you ask the former Cal State Fullerton infielder how he likes the minor league lifestyle, and you know you might have called at a bad time.

“It’s the same routine and it gets kind of old,” Carr said. “You get up at 2, eat, go to the field, play, come home, play some cards and go to sleep. It gets a little boring.”

Hold on. Hit the rewind button. Was that up at 2, as in 2 p.m.?

“Yeah, well, there’s nothing else to do when you’re on the road like we are,” Carr said. “We stay up late because we eat after the game and it takes a while to unwind.”

Carr may have a little trouble starting in the morning, but he sure perks up when he hits the basepaths. He leads the Class-A Northwest League with 25 stolen bases despite splitting time at second base with Bill Dunn.

“Every time I get on base I try to steal,” said Carr, who hit .351 with 27 runs batted in and 41 stolen bases at Fullerton last season. “I have the green light, and I’ve only been thrown out three times. Pitchers here are starting to pay a lot more attention to me.”

Entering last week, Carr actually has more stolen bases than hits (24), which says plenty about his speed but not much about his .222 batting average

Carr is struggling at the plate in his first pro season, just as he did at the start of the 1993 college season. But unlike his slump at Fullerton, he said he has had more bad luck than bad swings.

“Everything’s getting caught,” said Carr, a 23rd-round pick. “I’m hitting the ball well. I only struck out nine times in my first 100 at-bats, so figure that out. Everyone’s diving, beating me by a step. It’s incredible.”

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Escape from New York: With the way the Mets have been performing on and off the field this season, you might think Doug Saunders was glad to return to the safe haven of triple-A Norfolk, Va., after a two-week stint at New York in June.

Not so, says the former Esperanza High School infielder.

“I’d rather be in New York any day,” said Saunders, who hit .234 in 14 games for the Mets. “No matter how bad it is, you’re still in the big leagues, and being there makes you hungry for more. It makes you want to get back up there in the worst way.”

Saunders, who spent four seasons at the Class-A level before being promoted to double-A in 1992 and triple-A this season, said he enjoyed his first taste of the major leagues. Of course, he was in New York before players started throwing explosive devices at fans and bleach at sportswriters.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Saunders said. “I really didn’t notice anything (unusual) except for losing some games, that’s it.”

Saunders, who is batting .239 at Norfolk, had the New York press scrambling when he was called up. Because he wasn’t on the Mets’ 40-man roster, his biography isn’t in the team’s media guide.

“It was kind of funny--I had to tell them my life story,” Saunders said. “I had heard the New York press was a tough group, that they try to pick up all the dirt on everyone, but all the reporters I talked with were really nice guys. They just wanted an honest story, and that was fine by me.”