Twins: Slowey in command with pinpoint control

Kevin Slowey jokes that he's "a lefthander trapped in a righthander's body."

People who have watched him rocket through the Twins minor league system have seen more than someone who claims that he pitches like the stereotypical crafty lefty.

"He's not just a guy who doesn't walk anybody," said Rob Antony, Twins director of baseball operations. "He doesn't give up any hits either. I mean, he'll give up hits here and there, but it's the makeup and the presence and how he carries himself."

Slowey scored a 1420 on the SAT college entrance exam, was undrafted out of high school and is the International League's ERA leader. The righthander will make his major league debut tonight against Oakland after spending less than two years in the Twins' farm system.

He will bring the basic four-pitch mix -- fastball, curveball, slider and changeup -- but has done more with those pitches than any Twins prospect this season. Slowey can throw any pitch at any time in the count, and observers believe he works hitters like a 10-year veteran.

His style has been compared to that of former Twins righthander Brad Radke. Some have compared Slowey to former major leaguer Orel Hershiser, especially when he wears his glasses and speaks.

"You throw a word out there, and he's going to come back with something that's going to make even more sense than the question you asked," said Stan Cliburn, Slowey's manager at Class AAA Rochester. "I was sitting in here last year with [Twins director of minor leagues] Jim Rantz when he walked in. [We] never really knew who he was.

"After five minutes to sit down and talk with him, you could tell this guy was something special."

Slowey, 23, is a thinker on the mound, and that helped him go 6-2 with a 1.54 ERA at Class AAA Rochester this season. He walked five and struck out 57 in 641/3 innings.

Since being drafted out of Winthrop University in 2005, Slowey is 17-9 with a 1.87 ERA in his minor league career. If he walked two batters in a game, it was a controversy.

"For me, I don't throw 95 [miles per hour]," he said. "I'd love to, but I don't. I have to be out there knowing what I need to do, and I came to realize and say, 'Hey, you know you don't throw 98,' but figure out a way to get the guy out.

"That's just how it is. There are plenty of guys in the big leagues who have worked through it. One example is Brad Radke. He wasn't a power righty but had an amazing career. Those are the guys you can look to."

Slowey grew up in western Pennsylvania, where the high school season is limited to approximately 20 games because of the climate. Most of his experience as a teenager came on summer AAU teams that were sponsored by former major leaguer Kent Tekulve.

When he makes his first pitch to the Athletics tonight, Slowey will join Sean Casey and Kevin Orie as major leaguers to come out of Upper St. Clair High School in suburban Pittsburgh.

Casey, currently with the Detroit Tigers, remembers watching Slowey pitch on the junior varsity team.

"He pitched. That's the big thing with him," said Casey, a friend of Slowey's father, Pat. "He's got a great changeup and spots his pitches."

Slowey had a 83 to 85 mph fastball out of high school, one reason he wasn't recruited by Pittsburgh, Penn State or other big local schools. Winthrop, a mid-sized school in Rock Hill, S.C., took a chance on him.

Winthrop played a tough schedule, so Slowey learned what he could and couldn't do as he gained weight and his fastball improved.

"Winthrop was perfect for me," he said. "I got thrown into the fire and learned what it took to get guys out."

Even then, Pat Slowey said his son would pitch hitters backwards -- throwing changeups during traditional fastball counts and vice versa -- and do whatever he could to get hitters out.

"You don't have to throw 94 to miss a bat," Pat Slowey said, "and that's what he did."

In one memorable game, Winthrop beat Wichita State 2-1 in the opening round of the 2005 NCAA tournament. Slowey held the Shockers to seven hits while striking out 13 and outpitched Mike Pelfrey, currently a super prospect with the Mets. Nine of the 13 strikeouts were called.

"There were 30 scouts watching Pelfrey," Slowey said at the time. "And there were one or two watching me. It was almost like I snuck in."

Slowey was 14-2 with a 2.18 ERA that year, and was selected by the Twins one round after righthander Matt Garza, who debuted last season.

The Twins brought Slowey to spring training this year as a nonroster invitee. After nine starts at Rochester, Slowey will replace Ramon Ortiz in the rotation tonight in front of a crowd that will include about 20 family members and friends.

"We're all excited to see him," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, "We saw him a little bit in spring training, and we all are excited to see him pitch."

La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com