The Sky’s the Limit

The familiar arm pumps and vocal exhortations with which Francisco Rodriguez punctuates each save, often riling the frustrated opposition, represent a release of the adrenaline and emotion that the Angels’ closer brings to the mound.

At the same time, as Rodriguez points skyward in thanks, the gesticulations can be construed as symbolic signposts measuring how far and fast he has traveled on a route that tends to be forgotten amid his success.

From sore-armed minor league starter ...

To the stunning, 20-year-old K-Rod soaring to national prominence with his dominating relief during the October march to a World Series title in 2002 ...

To setup man and apprentice under Troy Percival ...

To the intimidating closer, still only 24 and in only his second full year in the role, who doesn’t back away from hitters or situations or his acknowledged classification as one of baseball’s best. He is possessor of the game’s most paralyzing combination of fastball and breaking ball -- with an occasional changeup to be thrown more often in the future.

At his locker, waiting to put on his uniform in the late-afternoon calm and devoid of the bravado of the mound, a matter-of-fact Rodriguez smiled and said:

“Sometimes it’s hard for me to realize what has happened over the last four years I’ve been here and what I’ve done as the closer the last two. In the meantime, when I step back, I know what I’ve done and what I can still do, and I look at that and truly believe I’m already one of the best.

“I hear people comparing me to Mariano Rivera and that’s a great honor and compliment, because I consider him one of the greatest ever and it makes me work even harder to prove that those people are right, but that’s the level I feel I’ve reached.

“You just can’t pitch in the situations I’m required to pitch in without a high level of confidence, and I go out there with a confidence of knowing I’m the one in charge right then and believing I’m one of the best at what I do.”

Rivera, the New York Yankees’ closer, and Rodriguez are not an appropriate comparison.

Rivera basically does it with one pitch that he turns into two, a cut fastball that he can run in on right-handers and left-handers, and his October resume puts him in a Hall of Fame-bound class by himself, even beyond his 400-plus saves.

Currently on another roll, coming up big again as he did last August and September despite struggling some Saturday in a 12-7 victory over the Yankees, Rodriguez recognizes Rivera’s stature. He knows he has a way to go on his accelerated route and insisted that he is only saying that his confidence is such that he knows he belongs in an elevated group, few having the volatility of a mid- to high-90s fastball and hard breaking pitch delivered aggressively from various arm angles.

Boston Red Sox hitting coach Ron Jackson searched for a description during his club’s recent series in Anaheim and said, “He obviously has great stuff, obviously has the ability to put a lot in a hitter’s head with that fastball and breaking ball, and he won’t give in unless you make him give in.

“You have to be prepared to take his tough pitches, the breaking balls in particular, that are often out of the strike zone. That’s not easy, and I’m glad I only have to watch from the dugout.”

After converting 45 of 50 save opportunities as Percival’s successor last year, including his last 18 in a row down the division-title stretch, and holding the opposition to a .184 batting average, Rodriguez has converted 36 of 39 opportunities.

He’s tied with Bobby Jenks of the Chicago White Sox for the American League lead in saves, has restricted the opposition to a .206 average and has not been scored on in his last 21 appearances, giving up only one run in the 30 1/3 innings of his last 29 appearances.

At this point, with 95 saves at 24 years 231 days, he should soon become the youngest to reach 100, breaking a record held by Gregg Olson, who was 25 years 205 days when he reached that milestone.

The city of Anaheim is watching something special and may not recognize the totality of it, pitching coach Bud Black said, referring to Rodriguez’s creativity with his arm angles and breaking ball, and the overall ferocity of the breaking ball, which some call a slider, some a curve and at times is some of each, varying in speed between 82 and 87 mph.

“Naming it doesn’t give it justice,” Black said. “It’s just a hard

“I’ve been in pro ball for more than 35 years and it’s the tightest and best spin I’ve ever seen on a breaking ball. I mean, I never saw the [Sandy] Koufax breaking ball and I know [Bert] Blyleven had a hard curve, but Frankie’s spin and rotation is like no other I’ve ever seen.”

Manager Mike Scioscia, the former catcher, agreed.

“There have been guys with power breaking balls,” Scioscia said, “but I’ve never seen one with the depth, velocity and late break of Frankie’s, and certainly the breaking ball-fastball combination is one of the best I’ve seen.”

Rodriguez can miss his location, as every pitcher does at times -- he has given up six home runs, walked 19 and struck out 69 in 54 2/3 innings -- but his ratio of first-pitch strikes has improved this year, a huge advantage with his arsenal.

“I struggled with my command at times last year,” he said. “I’ve been more consistent this year. I feel like I can make the right pitch in the right spot whenever I need to, and I’m trying to attack the hitter, get ahead and put them away, don’t try to be too perfect. Everything changes when you get ahead, and the one other thing is that I’m trying not to show a hitter the same pitch with the same arm angle in the same at-bat.”

Experience, of course, is a valued teacher, and Rodriguez has another in Black.

“Frankie has become more of a thinking-man’s pitcher than people might believe, whereas before he just let it rip,” Black said. “He asks a lot of questions now about pitch selection and the opposition’s hitters off the bench.

“He understands what the closer position means to a team, and he understands the importance of his role beyond getting saves, standing up after a loss and showing the same disposition day to day, save or no save. Last year there were more mood swings. This year he’s more tempered. The way he carries himself around the ballpark, you just see a guy growing up, showing more maturity.”

Lessons come in many forms, maturity often in tough doses.

With 13 brothers and sisters, Rodriguez was raised by grandparents in Venezuela. He has a son who lives with Rodriguez’s mother in Caracas. Two daughters live with their mother in the Anaheim area. Rodriguez said he sees them every day when the team is home.

“My children are my inspiration and lifeblood,” he said, a $3.7-million contract enabling him to secure their future as his never was, a multiyear contract probably next.

“The transition from starter to middle reliever to setup man to closer has not been easy,” Rodriguez said in English that could be an example to several Latino teammates who continue to rely on an interpreter.

“I’ve learned that I have to be patient and focused every day. I’ve learned how to turn the page from game to game, which isn’t easy either.

“I’ve worked hard to get to this position, and I’m proud of myself for how I’ve gotten the job done and kept my feet on the ground.”

He wasn’t pumping his arms at that, but he would have been entitled.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

*

Lights out

Francisco Rodriguez’s statistics since becoming the Angels’ closer last season:

*--* YEAR W L ERA G SV SVO IP H R ER HR BB SO 2006 1 2 1.98 52 36 39 54.2 41 14 12 6 19 69 2005 2 5 2.67 66 45 50 67.1 45 20 20 7 32 91

*--*

Sources: MLB.com, ESPN.com