Bob McCrory realizes he will never be the major league starter he always dreamed of becoming. And he couldn’t be happier.
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McCrory, a 25-year-old Mississippi native, picked up his Carolina League-best 12th save Tuesday as the Single-A Frederick Keys held off the visiting Winston-Salem Warthogs, 7-5, at Harry Grove Stadium. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound right-handed closer now has 16 strikeouts and a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings after making the transition from starter to reliever last year.
“It is a little different coming in closing, and it was something I had to get used to in the beginning of the year,” McCrory said. “You sit around and watch a lot of the game [in the bullpen] when I’m used to being out there starting. But once you get out there facing guys, it’s really not that much different. You’re just out there trying to get people out in a pressure situation, which is something I enjoy because I feel like I pitch better like that.”
A fourth-round pick by the Orioles in the 2003 draft, McCrory wasn’t sure if he would ever make it as a professional. A sprained right elbow kept him sidelined until 2004. He went 6-6 over 17 starts between rookie league Bluefield (W.Va.), Single-A Delmarva and short-season Single-A Aberdeen over the next two seasons before aninflamed right elbow shut him down again after five starts for Aberdeen in 2005.
“It’s very frustrating and disappointing at the same time,” McCrory said. “You work your whole life and get to the level you want to be at, and then you have injuries that detour your playing career and that’s tough to go through. It’s just something you have to work through because it’s what you want to do with your life.”
Things turned around for McCrory last season when he went 2-2 with a 2.33 ERA in 20 games, including 19 relief appearances, for Aberdeen. Still, he has been closely monitored this year. The Orioles wouldn’t let him pitch on consecutive days until the last week. Now, he must have two days off if used in back-to-back contests.
“Bob has a dynamite breaking ball and a change-up, which not a lot of closers have,” said Frederick manager Tommy Thompson, who said McCrory?s fastball reaches up to 98 miles per hour. “So I think it’s just a matter of time before he gets called up, and I think he’ll do just fine with everything he features.”
