BOSTON — Asking folks about Koji Uehara’s meteoric rise, here at Fenway Park on the eve of World Series Game 1, is like the old “Saturday Night Live” skit when John David Stutts (Eddie Murphy) shot and killed Buckwheat (Eddie Murphy). There’s a disarming lack of surprise over what feels like something remarkable.
“His stuff has always been there, and he always has been tough to hit,” said first baseman Mike Napoli, a teammate of Uehara’s the prior two years in Texas and now again in Boston. “He’s just doing it at the end of the game.”
Said a coach from another American League club, on the condition of anonymity: “I don’t know if it’s the fact that he really got that good that fast or that he always was pretty good.”
On Wednesday, Uehara will continue his not-so-magic carpet ride as this Fall Classic kicks off (weather permitting) with the assurance that, whether the Red Sox or Cardinals prevail, we’ll have our third straight champion with a closer who didn’t begin the season in that role. St. Louis will give the ninth inning to young Trevor Rosenthal, who took over the role on Sept. 23. Last year’s Giants won behind Sergio Romo, who became the closer for good on Aug. 23. And the 2011 Cardinals saw their last out recorded by Jason Motte, who didn’t record his first save until Aug. 28 of that season.
Yet Uehara, Boston’s third choice after the eventually injured Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey, stands out among this late-arriving crowd because his numbers pop the eyes. And because he’s 38, and his previous postseason experience (a 19.31 ERA in four 2011 games with Texas) didn’t go well.
“I’m enjoying the ride,” he said through interpreter C.J. Matsumoto.
With five saves entering the finals, Uehara needs three more to set the all-time postseason record; John Wetteland (1996 Yankees), Troy Percival (2002 Angels), Robb Nen (2002 Giants) and Brad Lidge (2008 Phillies) currently share the all-time mark of seven. Thanks to Bloomberg Sports for pointing out Uehara’s WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) of .565 in 74 ¹/₃ innings, broke Dennis Eckersley’s old mark of .607 in 1989.
If you look at Uehara’s numbers since he arrived in Major League Baseball in 2009, you can see he always has excelled at not walking people and striking out plenty; this year’s 12.2 Ks per nine innings set a personal best.
“I’m not pitching any differently from the past,” Uehara said. “It’s really hard to say what makes a difference.”
Those who have seen Uehara from the opposing dugout point to three key attributes to his surge: 1) His pinpoint command; 2) His arm action; and 3) His leg kick.
The command — he had 101 strikeouts against nine walks this year — comes from high school, Uehara said. He was an outfielder at Osaka’s Tokaidai Gyosei High School, but he threw batting practice to his teammates, and that made him a strike-thrower.
Red Sox pitching coach Juan Nieves recalled a stretch during spring training when Uehara was so efficient, needing about 35 pitches over four games, the right-hander had to throw a bullpen session just to build his endurance.
“It’s one, two, three strikes you’re out, like in cartoons,” Cardinals Game 1 starter Adam Wainwright said. “It’s crazy to see.”
The arm action makes it nearly impossible for hitters to determine what pitch is coming. Said Red Sox first baseman Mike Carp, who played for Seattle while Uehara pitched for Texas, “His arm action is the same every time, whether it’s his split or his fastball. I’ve watched video. You can almost slow down and [say], ‘That’s a fastball.’ Speed it up, and the ball drops off the plane. It’s a split-finger.”
Then there’s the front leg kick. “He really varies what he does in terms of his kick,” the coach said. “He can vary the height of it, speed it up and slow it down, regardless of where the baserunners are.”
“It’s something that I’ve been doing and working on since when I was pitching in Japan,” Uehara said. “That carried on.”
In all, the coach said, “You’ve got to attack him within the first two pitches,” and low-ball hitters have the best chance at success against him.
This isn’t just another fluky closer. This is someone who just needed some breaks to fall his way. Now he needs just four more team wins to be remembered as one of the best, if least surprising to those in the know, October stories.