By Darren
Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex
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| Andrew Albers sets to throw a pitch in January 2020. |
When you
are a veteran left-handed hurler that hasn’t played at those levels for three seasons, it
is even more of a blessing.
After
finishing the 2017 season with the MLB’s Seattle Mariners, Albers, who is from
North Battleford, Sask., played three seasons in Japan’s top professional
league for the Orix Buffaloes from 2018 to 2020.
This past
February at age 35, Albers signed a minor league contract with the MLB’s
Minnesota Twins that included an invitation to Spring Training. Things took off
from there resulting in a spot with the AAA St. Paul Saints and a return to
playing games in the MLB this past August.
“They offered me a position out of spring kind of as a depth
guy in AAA,” said Albers, who spends his off-seasons back in Saskatchewan. “Obviously,
they had a lot of injuries to their pitching staff this year, and I was able to
put together a good couple of months.
“I was thankful for the opportunity they gave me. I was able
to go out and have a couple of good outings (with the Twins). I probably had
possibly the worst start of my career in Tampa. Unfortunately, that is just
kind of how things go.
“After that, I was a little bit rough just kind of going up
and down and pitching on short notice and some things like that. Again, when
you are in my situation, it was all I could ask for. They gave me an opportunity,
and I was really thankful for that.”
At the AAA
level, Albers was a starter and saw action in 18 total games posting an 8-4
record, a 3.88 earned-run average, 88 strikeouts and 11 walks.
On Aug. 19,
Albers, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 200 pounds, made his first appearance of
the season at the big league level at Yankee Stadium. He threw four innings of
relief for the Twins in their 7-5 loss striking out four batters giving up two
hits including a solo home run and one walk.
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| Andrew Albers unloads a pitch in January of 2020. |
In total
this past season, Albers made five appearances for the Twins posting a 1-2
record, a 7.58 ERA, 12 strikeouts and nine walks.
He said the biggest adjustment playing at the AAA and MLB levels in 2021 compared to 2017 was seeing how much analytics have changed the game. He noted starters rarely get to throw over 100 pitches in a game, see a batting order for a third time or go six or seven innings deep into a contest.
He had some discussions with pitching coaches and managers about getting an early hook at times this season. Albers added the middle relievers are better than at any other time he can remember in the game, so he understood the strategies there.
“It was really interesting,” said Albers. “For me in my
entire career, I’ve been brought up and it was all throw the ball down at the
knees with your fastball and work in and out.
“Coming to the analytics this year, it has gone a lot more
to throwing the ball at the top of the zone and just working your breaking ball
underneath the zone. For me, it was finding a way to incorporate some of those
analytics, but then also go back to what I have been successful with. As long
as you command the baseball and you throw the pitch where you want to and you
have a plan of what you want to do with guys, you can still be successful.”
During the off-season, Albers returns home to Saskatchewan
and gets out fairly frequently to help players coming up in the province’s
minor baseball system in various training sessions. He has made regular
appearances at the Indoor Training Centre on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds
the past two off-seasons.
Being based in Saskatoon for this off-season, Albers plans
to made a few more appearances to help out.
“I enjoy doing it first of all,” said Albers. “I think
second of all I really enjoyed growing up in Saskatchewan.
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| Andrew Albers demonstrates a pitching technique in Jan. 2020. |
“It is always nice to have somebody who has kind of gone
through the process whether it is going through college or going through the
professional game and things like that just to be able to bounce ideas off of
or ask questions to or things like that.”
Albers, who
is a graduate of North Battleford’s John Paul II Collegiate, remembers the work
the various coaches in the province did with him and likes trying to help out
those coaches.
“I had a lot of mentors who did that for me in the province
guys like Greg Brons and Rob Cherepuschak who are still there,” said Albers,
who played for the defunct Saskatoon Yellow Jackets of the Western Canadian
Baseball League in 2004. “They are still doing a great job.
“To be able to give back a little bit in that way especially
again in Saskatchewan when you don’t necessarily have everybody come back, for
me that is important.”
At the
Gordie Howe Sports Complex, Albers like working with Jordan Draeger and the
rest of staff at the Going Yard Training Centre in developing young players.
Albers
hopes that his presence does put the idea in the minds of young players that
you can come from Saskatchewan and eventually play the game at a level as high
as the MLB.
“The more of those guys you can see around and the more that
you realize that it might be possible, maybe that motivates them a little bit,”
said Albers. “They realize that even though it can be a tough and a long road
it is possible, and that is what you hope just being able to see those pro guys
come in.”
As for next
season, Albers is currently a free agent and said at this point there isn’t
much clarity as to where he will be. The collective bargaining agreement
between the MLB and the MLB Players Association is set to expire on Dec. 1.
Albers, who turned 36-years-old on Oct. 6, believes there is a good chance there will be a little bit of a work stoppage. For someone his age, he would appreciate the chance to experience one more season under the sun.
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| Andrew Albers chats with some young players in Jan. 2020. |
“Obviously you know, you start getting a little bit older,
and you are not quite sure how many more opportunities you are going to have. I
looked at the playoff rosters this year. If I were on them, I would have been
the oldest on five out of the 10 (teams).
“I just think, ‘Holy smokes, that is kind of crazy.’ For me,
I look at it as a guy like me to still be playing when the game has gotten very
young very quick, I’ve just been very fortunate and blessed to play as long as
I have. Hopefully, I can trick somebody into giving me one more shot next year,
and then we’ll go from there.”
