High Praise

There are two schools of thought regarding Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brett Tomko.

On one side is Ray Knight, Tomko’s former manager, who in June compared Tomko to Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden.

Then there’s San Diego Padre Tony Gwynn, who has another description: “Average.”

Such polarized opinions should be enough to unnerve any 24-year-old pitcher taking his first steps in the major leagues. Yet there is a serenity about Tomko, an El Dorado High graduate. He is calm, almost too calm.

On the Seaver-Gooden talk: “That’s nice to hear. I like praise like that.”

And about Gwynn’s comment: “It’s going to happen.”

After both instances, Tomko went about his business. It’s the type of poise Cincinnati General Manager Jim Bowden saw before deciding to bring Tomko from triple-A Indianapolis in May.

Since then, Tomko is 7-4 with a 3.54 earned-run average. Against the Padres, Tomko pitched seven shutout innings in a 7-0 victory, a game in which Gwynn went hitless.

“I have pretty high expectations of myself,” Tomko said. “I wanted to accomplish a lot this year. My ultimate goal was to be called up by the All-Star break.

“Some of the guys tell me there are going to be days I get beat up. I shouldn’t get beat up. I should go out and dominate every game. You look at Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson, they dominate every time. That’s how I want to be.”

Heady talk for a guy who will be making only his 11th major league start Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

Tomko has been on a fast track since the Reds drafted him in the second round--their first pick--in 1995. He was 15-2 with a 1.35 ERA at Florida Southern in 1995.

The Reds liked his velocity, which increased from the low-80s in high school to the mid-90s in college.

“Brett is the type of guy you can build a starting rotation around,” Bowden said. “If he stays healthy, there is no question that he can be a 15-20-game winner.

“I kid him that he comes across as a wimp off the field. But when he walks onto the field, he’s as tough of a competitor as you are going to find. Nothing fazes him.”

Certainly not occasional failure.

Tomko was roughed up Tuesday during his last start, giving up five runs in 4 2/3 innings against San Francisco. He also made a key error in that game.

“I just want to toss that game in the trash can and move on to Sunday,” Tomko said. “I don’t want to take my bruises.”

Even when they occur, Tomko hasn’t brooded about it.

On July 15, St. Louis’ Ray Lankford hit two home runs off Tomko, both landing in the red seats at Cinergy Field, something that has happened only 22 times in 28 seasons. Afterward, Tomko asked his brother, Scott, what it looked like on television.

“About 950 feet,” Scott told him.

Not that it bothered Tomko, who says he has “a curve that sometimes acts like a slider, sometimes acts like a curve and sometimes acts like a batting practice fastball.”

Said Reds pitching coach Don Gullett: “Guys like Brett are special because of their mound presence. I don’t condone failure, but to be able to survive it and learn from the mistakes makes you stronger. Brett doesn’t get flustered by those things.”

Bowden learned that for himself in May, when he went to Indianapolis to evaluate Tomko.

Said Bowden: “Before the game, I went up to him and said, ‘This is the biggest game of your life. There is more pressure on you than if this was the seventh game of the World Series because I have come down to look at you.’ I wanted to see how he reacted with the general manager in the stands pointing a radar gun at his head.”

Tomko pitched seven shutout innings. Afterward, Bowden told him to work on a changeup.

“I thought, ‘OK, I’m going to be in triple-A the whole year,’ ” Tomko said.

He was called up less than two weeks later and, three days later, he started against Philadelphia, went six innings and lost to Curt Schilling, 2-1.

He was returned to Indianapolis but was recalled nine days later. Tomko returned to the rotation in early August. He beat San Francisco, 5-1--giving up only a home run to Bonds--and then San Diego. He got Gwynn out in the first inning and called it the highlight of his career.

Gwynn, who saw the moment as less than historical, said after the game he was unimpressed with Gwynn. So was teammate Ken Caminiti, who called Tomko “hittable,” even though he was hitless too.

“I’m a rookie,” Tomko said. “It doesn’t look good when they don’t get any hits.”

Gwynn, though, did admit that Tomko was “very composed,” and “looked like he’d been here for seven or eight years,” instead of three months.

As praise, it may not reach the Seaver-Gooden stratosphere, but it will do.