Rays Debuting First of Many Knuckleball Prodigies in Eddie Gamboa

Rays 31-year old rookie knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa threw three scoreless relief innings on September 5 in his second career game. Gamboa was just taught this year how to throw the pitch, and the team employs at least three more newly-turned knuckleballers in their minor league system. 

In the offseason, the Tampa Bay Rays curiously hired former knuckleballer Charlie Haeger to be their lead minor league pitching coordinator. Then, they proceeded to sign former first basemen Dan Johnson to a minor league pitching contract. Apparently, he knew how to throw a knuckleball. After that, the moves continued. They later signed long time minor league catcher Jeff Howell, as he too knew how to throw a knuckler.

Then MLB.com reporter Bill Chastain came out with a very intriguing report. Former Rays top-of-the-rotation pitcher Andy Sonnanstine was going to attempt to come back as a knuckleballer. This story, along with the other signings, got very little attention. But, Sonnanstine was a very good pitcher for the Joe Maddon led Rays at one point. He has not pitched since 2011 but is still only 33 and reportedly in good shape.

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These moves came and went in the offseason without any fanfare, and maybe for good reason. As possibly expected, the signings have yet to amount to anything. Eddie Gamboa was the first to reach the majors and has been good, but only in two games and 3 ⅓ innings.

So, with Gamboa, Johnson, Howell, and Sonnanstine, the Rays have four pitchers attempting to make it to the majors with a knuckleball as their main pitch. This is unheard of in baseball, dating all the way back to the Hartford Dark Blue days (they were a team in the inaugural MLB season in 1876).

Maybe the Rays know something everyone else doesn’t. Or maybe they are trying to explore a niche market in pitching that has yet to be fully discovered. As a low market team, they have always been open to strange ways to gain a competitive advantage. After all, there have been very few knuckleball pitchers in the MLB in the grand scheme of things, who knows how a team would do if the pitch was emphasized.

Tim Wakefield was successful for the Red Sox for a long time, but his numbers don’t jump off the page. R.A. DIckey had a stretch of three great years but has since seen his ERA go back to league-average numbers. Lastly, Boston hurler Steven Wright was an All Star this year on the heels of a terrific start. But even he has come back to earth recently, seeing his ERA jump from 2.01 to 3.20 over the course of two months.

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Can knuckleball pitching be that successful? Dickey did win a Cy Young with a terrific year in 2012 but that seems like more of an outlier than the norm. Most others to try throwing a knuckler as their main pitch has scuffled. This including current minor league pitching coordinator Charlie Haeger. Sure, he can teach how to throw a knuckleball, but he was unable to do it successfully in the majors (6.40 career ERA).

The intriguing thing about pitching a knuckler is the effect, or lack thereof, that it has on the arm. Though the players the Rays signed were all over 30 years old, that is not much of a concern for a pitcher who is not throwing his hardest. Wakefield last pitched at the crisp age of 45, and Dickey is on pace for his sixth-straight 200 inning year at 41 years of age. And, of course, famous knuckleballer and Hall of Famer Phil Niekro somehow pitched to the age of 48.

It seems the Rays are hoping that at least one of their old arms is able to learn the trick of the knuckler. They seemingly have nothing to lose, even if the chances of a high return on their investment are slim.

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With new coach Haeger there to instill confidence in them, it will be an interesting experiment to keep an eye on for the next few years regardless. With age as a minor issue for a knuckler, these pitchers will have plenty of time to try to channel their inner Wakefield/Niekro.