New Mechanics Help Carranza Earn Shot In Weekend Rotation

Fastballs leaving the hand of Oregon's Isaiah Carranza can touch 93 mph before hitting the catcher's mitt. As a freshman last spring, the UO pitcher posted a respectable 3.63 in 19 outings.

In short, the guy's got good stuff. For some reason, though, in Carranza's first outing as a sophomore, at Fresno State, that wasn't apparent. Working as the Ducks' fourth starter, Carranza allowed only two runs in the Feb. 20 outing. But that didn't reflect the way the ball was flying off Bulldog bats.

Over the ensuing two weeks, Carranza entered the laboratory of new UO pitching coach Jason Dietrich, and offered himself up for experimentation. The results: Using new mechanics reminiscent of Luis Tiant or Johnny Cueto, Carranza has allowed just two earned over 11 innings in his last three outings, earning himself the Sunday start when Oregon hosts UC Irvine this weekend.

"The fact he's taken to it, it's helped his confidence, and obviously the results speak for themselves," said UO coach George Horton, whose Ducks open the series Friday in PK Park at 6 p.m. "That's a lot of hard work in a short period of time."

Carranza and Dietrich modeled Carranza's new windup after San Francisco Giants right-hander Cueto, who himself took a page from Tiant. By turning his back to the plate at the start of his motion, and employing slight hesitations to mess with a hitter's timing, Carranza is following in the footsteps of those major-league stars.

"For some reason, guys were seeing the ball well off him, and we were trying to create some deception," said Dietrich, whose staff is third in the NCAA in shutouts with six so far this season. "He was on board, and that's the best thing. He was open-minded to it, and now I think he's got a feel for it and is getting better with it."

Carranza said he'd worked on the new delivery in the bullpen just once before trying it in a game. That was March 18 at California, a scoreless, one-inning relief appearance in which he allowed a hit and struck out a batter.

Just 10 days later, Carranza made a midweek start at Portland, and threw five one-hit innings. He made another start this past Monday at BYU and again went five, allowing two runs on six hits. That earned Carranza a shot in the weekend rotation against UC Irvine, and justified his efforts to embrace a radical change after the season had already started.

"(Dietrich) said, 'You're going to have to trust me; it's a leap of faith, basically,'" Carranza said. "We're not changing a whole lot, but he wanted to really mess with their timing. I said, 'I'm down. I'll do whatever it takes.'"

With three outings under his belt, Carranza said he's fully confident in the new mechanics. He's working on a quick pitch to complement the hesitation move, and said he can always fall back on his old delivery in a pinch.

For now, though, the Ducks would be happy to see Carranza stick with what's worked the last three weeks. And if he earns the chance, he'll have a shot Sunday to work longer than five innings, after being pulled last week and watching BYU tie the game off Oregon's bullpen.

"He wasn't tired; he was still effective," Horton said. "We went to another Duck, and he didn't get it done, and unfortunately (Carranza) didn't get the win. I think this start, we'll give him a little more trust and rope, and hopefully it pays off for him."