Originally published August 2010
Trenton, New Jersey - Yankees Minor League reliever George Kontos has not lost any of his marked self-assured attitude.
But he's also learned a lot and continues to be an astute student of the game. Since having Tommy John surgery in 2009, Kontos has had a lot to prove.He views his return to Trenton as rehabilitation and clearly hoped to get back up to Scranton soon.
The righty had to make a lot of adjustments at the Triple-A level, when he realized hitters were not so easy to fool.
"The biggest thing for me and what I've learned is that Double-A to Triple-A is the biggest jump," Kontos said. "I had success in '08 when I pitched at Trenton, then started off good this season. Then when I went to Triple-A I was doing ok and locating."
What works for him is his off-speed stuff to close the door on a guy. But that wasn't so easy at that level.
"My out pitch is my slider and I know if I get in trouble I can go to it. And what I noticed is that guys weren't just going to chase it up there. The hitters are a lot more experienced. You have to do a lot of work to get them out."
In his last three outings, Kontos has pitched six innings and allowed just three hits and one earned run. He's struck out six.
Mentally he's the same prepared and energetic guy. Physically he also feels like the same pitcher.
"I feel great. My elbow is one hundred percent. There's nothing wrong with it."
It's a matter of getting himself back to what he knows he can be with more playing time. He's still looking for his fastball velocity to return to form
"I still feel like there's a couple of ticks left to come back on my fastball. I've been throwing it 91-93, which is harder than I was last year. But I do feel there's a couple ticks to come, which is encouraging."