FORT MYERS, FLA. - A 10.31 ERA in April. A demotion to the bullpen in May. A return to the rotation in June. A baffling outing in September during which he asked out of the game after six brilliant innings.
What did it all mean to Twins righthander Carlos Silva?
"I'll take it as a positive thing," he said.
Huh?
"Yeah," Silva said. "It's funny because a lot of people would say, 'It was your best year because you learned a lot from mistakes and all the bad things that happened to you.' "
Actually, the Venezuela-born Silva might have turned around a couple words. But a more tapered Silva seems determined to right the several wrongs that made his 2006 season a disaster.
After going 9-8 with a 3.44 ERA and nine walks in 188 1/3 innings in 2005, Silva was 11-15 with a 5.94 ERA last season.
A bad season got strange on Sept. 6 when Silva took himself out of a game against Tampa Bay after six shutout innings because of an upset stomach. A 2-0 lead became a 4-2 loss. Silva apologized to his team afterward.
"I want to earn my spot," said Silva, the Twins' possible No. 2 starter behind Johan Santana. "I want to win and earn my spot."
Silva wouldn't say if he lost his confidence, but the Tampa Bay game suggested he was eager to get out of the game before something bad happened -- an indication of how the season wore him down.
"I'm not a coach and not trying to break down his game," closer Joe Nathan said. "But it was just his aggressiveness, I would say. He had confidence in his sinker [in 2005], and it seemed he went after guys with his sinkerball. He knew no one was going to hit him and if they were, they would hit the top of the ball and hit a ground ball. I don't think he worried too much about his other pitches. He knew he always had a good sinker no matter what the count was.
"Last year, in my opinion -- I don't know if he felt like he had to make adjustments and try to come up with something new to try to get hitters off balance. He seemed like he threw a lot more off-speed stuff. He seemed like he wasn't aggressive with his sinker. Then when he fell behind, he didn't have the confidence to throw the ball where he wanted. That's the only thing I could pick up on.
"Confidence is a huge part of this game and, obviously, in '05 he had a ton of it. Last year, I didn't see it."
One theory the Twins have is that, through mechanical problems, Silva lost his sinker. Some with the club also believe pitching in the World Baseball Classic last spring hindered him. Silva was supposed to be in Venezuela's starting rotation but was moved to the bullpen just before the competition began. There was a rush to get his arm into starter's shape before Opening Day.
"You come to spring training and you don't keep your routine," Silva said. "You feel so different."
Pitching coach Rick Anderson said, "He pressed, and that's when you have trouble."
As the season ended, Silva began to build himself back up.
"He said at the end of last year, 'I will be better next year, you watch,' " Anderson said.
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