Change Comes Slowly to Percival

Closer Troy Percival pitched the fifth inning of Friday’s 10-1 White Sox victory over the Angels at Tucson Electric Park, an idea Manager Terry Collins and pitching coach Dick Pole came up with so he would face the kind of bona fide major league batters who are usually in the clubhouse by the ninth inning of a spring training game.

But that was hardly the biggest surprise for Chicago batters. Imagine what was going through second baseman Ray Durham’s mind when the Angels’ flamethrower started him off with three consecutive changeups.

Percival, employing a variation of a grip used by Pep Harris to throw the pitch, wasn’t that pleased with the way he threw the off-speed delivery but overall he’s been happy with the newest addition to his repertoire.

“If the curveball is working, I’ll be throwing 90% fastballs and hooks,” Percival said. “But since I discovered this grip and I’ve gotten comfortable with it, I’ve been able to throw the changeup for strikes all spring. I’d been fooling around with a lot of different grips, but this one just clicked.”

Collins, however, wants Percival to use the changeup even if his other two pitches are fooling batters.

“He’s got to use it,” Collins said. “If he can put something else in their minds, that will just make him that much more effective.”

Percival throws the pitch just like a fastball, but with this grip, the ball comes to the plate in the low 80-mph range, a vast difference from his mid-to-high 90s fastball.

Percival, who usually starts throwing off a mound in November, held off until January this year because of shoulder problems he experienced last season and says his arm feels “fantastic.”

*

Starter Tim Belcher is still having trouble dealing with prosperity. He gave up three runs--only two earned--in a four-inning stint Friday, but all three runs were driven in by batters who were behind in the count.

“Every run I’ve given up this spring has been driven in by a guy who was either 0-1 or 0-2 at one time,” he said. “This time, I gave up a 1-2 two-run double [to Chad Mottola] and an 0-2 RBI single [to Magglio Ordonez]. On the up side, I guess I’m throwing strikes . . . maybe just too many.”

*

White Sox left-hander Jim Parque, the first player from the 1997 draft to make his major league debut last season when he pitched against the Yankees on May 26, threw four perfect innings Friday, striking out four, including Mo Vaughn twice. The Angels had only two “hits,” a sun triple and a trip double. Reggie Williams hit a high fly to center in the sixth that Tyrone Pendergrass lost in the sun and fell for a triple. Vaughn hit a similar fly ball in the seventh, Pendergrass slipped and fell and it short-hopped the wall for a double. . . . The Angels’ daily notes include corrections for the 1999 media guide. One right-hander Jason Dickson is eagerly awaiting: “Page 79, Jason Dickson bio, 1998 season; first paragraph should read allowed 147 hits, not 485 hits.”