Bottenfield Brings His ‘Maddux-Type’ Approach to Angels

The Angels did not acquire a four-time Cy Young Award winner when they traded for St. Louis right-hander Kent Bottenfield Thursday. Just a facsimile thereof.

“Not to put myself on the same level, but I’m a Greg Maddux-type pitcher,” Bottenfield said in a conference call from Florida on Friday. “Guys will walk away from the plate wondering how I got them out.

“I watch eight to 10 hours of videotape before each start and try to learn hitters better than they know themselves. I try to find their weaknesses and exploit them.”

That’s because Bottenfield, despite his imposing size (6 feet 3, 240 pounds), does not have the world’s most imposing fastball. He came to the big leagues with the Montreal Expos in 1992 trying to overpower hitters, and four teams and six years later, he finally was enlightened by St. Louis pitching Coach Dave Duncan.

“I banged my head on the wall for a few years before I realized I didn’t have the stuff to throw fastballs by guys at this level,” Bottenfield, 31, said. “I realized I had to use location. . . . Dave taught me that the mental aspects of the game were more important than a blazing fastball and nasty breaking stuff, neither of which I have anymore.”

With Duncan’s guidance, Bottenfield had a breakthrough year in 1999, going 18-7 with a 3.97 earned run average for the Cardinals after winning a total of 18 games in six previous big league seasons. He made the National League All-Star team and became a fan favorite in St. Louis, one of baseball’s most tradition-rich cities.

That’s what made Thursday’s trade, in which the Angels sent center fielder Jim Edmonds to the Cardinals for Bottenfield and second baseman Adam Kennedy, difficult to swallow.

Bottenfield was so distraught Thursday night he couldn’t speak to reporters, and he was still choking back tears when he met the St. Louis media Friday morning.

“It came as a shock,” he said. “With all the moves this team made, it’s going to be exciting, and I’m going to be sorry that I’m not a part of it. . . . I don’t dread going to Anaheim, and there are some positive aspects of this deal. But to leave the fans of St. Louis, who have been so good to me, that’s tough.”

Like Edmonds, who was told by General Manager Bill Stoneman last weekend that he would remain an Angel despite swirling trade rumors, Bottenfield said he was told by Cardinal front-office executives that he would remain in St. Louis.

“I was told this wasn’t going to happen,” Bottenfield said. “Maybe that should have been the first clue. . . . The loyalty factor in this game is almost nonexistent, but you can’t expect to stay in the same place forever. You get a guy like Jim Edmonds, loyalty goes out the window.”

Angel pitcher Kent Mercker was a Cardinal teammate of Bottenfield’s from 1998-99 and dismisses speculation that last season was a fluke and that Bottenfield won’t be able to sustain his success.

“If anything, he can get better because he wasn’t used to starting that much,” Mercker said. “Mentally, he’s sharp. He’s not going to beat himself. He doesn’t give up big innings where he walks two guys and gives up a bomb. He can throw three pitches--fastball, slider and changeup--anywhere he wants.”