Bowyer blows away batters with No. 1 -- blazing fastball

Jim Mandelaro
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

When Rochester Red Wings pitcher Travis Bowyer is asked where he's from, he gives an answer longer than the Beatles' hit list.

"Southwest Virginia, between Roanoke and Lynchburg," he says. "Bedford County. A town called Big Island. It's a real small town."

In reality, Bowyer has come out of nowhere. But this nowhere man is on course to fashion what may be the greatest season by a reliever in Red Wings history.

The right-hander with the 99-mph fastball has made Triple-A hitters look like they were swinging (and missing) at his pitches with a toothpick.

Get out your microscopes and check out these stats:

Record of 3-1, 1.09 earned-run average and 64 strikeouts in only 47 innings. His 18 saves are just four shy of the club record set by Al Severinsen in 1970. Opponents are hitting just .150 against him.

"He's been incredible," interim Wings manager Rich Miller says.

People are noticing. Sunday, Bowyer pitched the final inning (allowing no runs, two hits, a walk and striking out two) for the United States in a 4-0 loss to the World team in the Futures All-Star Game at Detroit's Comerica Park. Wednesday, he'll be in Sacramento, Calif., for the Triple-A All-Star Game. ESPN2 carried Sunday's game and will do the same on Wednesday.

Bowyer's rise has been phenomenal, considering this is his sixth full minor-league season and he wasn't on anyone's prospects list entering spring training.

"I didn't really know who he was," Wings pitching coach Bobby Cuellar says.

Even Bowyer himself wasn't sure he would make the Red Wings' 24-man roster, let alone be the closer. Those duties were expected to fall to Bobby Korecky, who recorded 31 saves last year.

But when Korecky underwent elbow surgery in March, the burden shifted to Beau Kemp. And when Kemp struggled early and Willie Eyre proved dominant in a setup role, Bowyer pitched his way into the closer's spot.

Nervous? Hardly. The laid-back Virginian, still only 23, is having the time of his life.

"It's a lot of fun to come in when the game's on the line," he says. "It's the last inning. Time for you to get it done."

And virtually every time, that's what this 6-foot-3, 212-pound flamethrower has done.

"When he comes in, it's lights out," Red Wings pitcher J.D. Durbin says. "We know he's going to get it done. He always does."

Bowyer thought he had a good May, when he set a team record for saves in a month (11) and recorded a 1.42 ERA. Then came June, when he didn't allow a run in his 11 1/3 innings.

Bowyer was named Red Wings Player of the Month for June, but getting him to the luncheon at the Genesee Valley Club proved tougher than getting a hit off him.

"He said 'Do I have to go?'" Miller recounts. "He's quiet like that. He doesn't like attention drawn to him. I said 'Of course you have to go. It's being held in your honor!'"

Bowyer grew up idolizing Rickey Henderson, Kevin Brown and Nolan Ryan. He played pitcher and shortstop growing up but focused on pitching in three dominant seasons at Liberty High. Back then, he averaged 86 mph on his fastball and peaked at 92. Now he is regularly in the high 90s and has topped out at 99.

He credits a workout program designed by Twins minor-league pitching instructor Rick Knapp -- long toss from as far away as 200 feet, plus weights and cords -- with helping him increase his velocity so dramatically.

Bowyer was just 17 when the Twins selected him in the 20th round of the 1999 draft. He methodically worked his way up the organizational ladder and took a 24-19 record and 3.02 ERA into this season.

He struggled to a 2-5 record and 6.10 ERA at rookie level Elizabethton in 2001 and feels he came close to being released.

But in 2002, he was moved from starter to reliever. He posted a 2.16 ERA for Class A Quad City and hasn't looked back.

Bowyer's greatness began to show last year, when he went a combined 9-3 with a 1.29 ERA for Class A Fort Myers and Double-A New Britain. Opponents hit .185 against him.

"It's been a long road, but I've learned a lot," he says. "When I first got there, I said 'I'm gonna make it to the majors by 22.' But that's a young age."

The one knock on Bowyer, and the one that may keep him in Rochester a little longer, is that he's basically a one-pitch pitcher.

"It's true," he says. "Everybody comes in from the Twins and says 'Work on your breaking ball!' But when you've got your fastball working that good and you're only pitching one inning, it's tough to work it in."

Cuellar says it's the fine line minor-league teams walk between winning games and developing players.

"You can't ask a young pitcher to throw three or four breaking balls in a row when it's not his best pitch," he says. "When I was closer, they wanted me to throw a changeup, but it was hard to throw a changeup and get beat."

The solution will be to let Bowyer pitch more than one inning and work on his slider, as he did last week when he tossed three scoreless innings against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

It was a performance that made Red Barons manager -- and former big-league manager -- Gene Lamont take notice.

"He was impressive," Lamont says. "He throws hard, and the ball gets up on you. Our players commented on that.

"He'd be a guy we'd love to have in our system."

Bowyer played winter ball in Venezuela in the off-season and pitched in various roles -- starter, long man and closer. Cuellar thinks this was a key period in the pitcher's development.

"Some times when you get away from the organization and pitch against major-leaguers, it gives you confidence," he says.

Bowyer is blessed with a blazing fastball that dances as it crosses home plate.

"He's special and has a special fastball," says Cuellar, whose former "students" include Cy Young Award winners Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez. "A lot of teams say they see it real clearly, but then it gets there and just explodes.

"God gave him a natural talent, and he's making the most of it."

Travis Bowyer

Say it: Although club officials and local media have called him "BOY-er" all year, it's actually pronounced "BOW-yer'' (like bow and arrow). "I've heard it different all my life," he says.

Age: Turns 24 on Aug. 3.

Bats/Throws: Right/right.

Acquired: Twins' 20th-round pick in 1999.

Bread and butter: Throws two-seam and four-seam fastball, clocked at 99 mph.

King me: A huge checkers buff, he plays before every game to help him focus. Is he a better pitcher or checkers player? "Tough question," he says.

Personal: Single, born in Lynchburg, Va., and lives in Big Island, Va. Has two brothers.