Strong man on Padres' mound

By: DAN HAYES - Staff Writer | Monday, March 5, 2007 11:12 PM PST ∞

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Pitchers aren't often jovial after serving up 420-foot home runs. But Padres ace Jake Peavy was all smiles after the Kansas City Royals roughed him up in his second Cactus League outing Monday.

Peavy -- who allowed a pair of runs and the aforementioned blast to Ryan Shealy -- isn't concerned with the box score. He's all about locating his fastball.

And with the help of an offseason program designed to strengthen his arm and shoulder, Peavy is getting more opportunities to work on his location.

That's good news for the organization as it makes a run at a third straight National League West title.

"I told (catcher Rob Bowen) I didn't care if they hit it 500 feet," Peavy said after the Padres dropped a 9-4 contest to the Royals at Surprise Stadium. "I had to work on fastballs low and away. I had a good slider. It was as good as I've thrown it in the last couple of years. But it's about working and getting better. I threw some first-pitch fastballs, and they weren't going to take it.

"They were aggressive early."

Confounding might be the best way to sum up Peavy's 2006 campaign.

Even though he battled shoulder issues much of the year, his stuff remained electric. The results -- not so much.

The 25-year-old finished the season with an 11-14 record and a 4.09 ERA. He surrendered five earned runs or more in eight starts. Two years earlier, Peavy led the National League with a 2.27 ERA.

But pitching coach Darren Balsley said locating his fastball was the key.

He pointed to Peavy's 215 strikeouts -- and his major-league high 9.56 whiffs per nine innings -- as evidence stuff wasn't the problem.

"He had a couple of outings where he didn't make pitches," Balsley said. "He didn't work as often between starts, and he didn't locate his fastball last year. That's the one thing I can say we're working hard on this spring.

"His repetition in locating (the fastball) is huge."

Peavy said his shoulder didn't feel right from the get-go last April. And that limited his work in between starts.

Strength became a big enough issue, Balsley said that then-manager Bruce Bochy pushed his ace to the back of the rotation after the All-Star break to get him extra rest.

Could it have been caused by his participation in the World Baseball Classic in March?

Manager Bud Black wouldn't say the inaugural tournament was the smoking gun, but noted that Anaheim pitchers Bartolo Colon and Kelvim Escobar were also slowed by injuries after participating.

"I'm not sure if there's a direct relation," Black said. "But I wouldn't be surprised. The timetable sped up, and when you throw that early with that intensity (it can have an effect)."

Peavy made his first start for Team USA on March 7, throwing 23 pitches in three innings. Five days later, Peavy threw 67 pitches in a five-inning outing.

Even though the outings were on a similar schedule to spring training, the intensity was greater.

After his shoulder woes of 2006, Peavy said it was time to go to a trainer in the offseason. Since Jan. 1, Peavy has worked overtime to prep his arm for this year.

"This winter I went overboard," Peavy said. "I just want to be healthy. If something happens to me, I know I did everything I could to be ready. ... When you start having arm trouble early in the year, you can't get work in between starts and you're not going to be sharp. And I wasn't a lot last year. But last year's, last year.

"I know what I can do, and I was encouraged the ball was coming out of my hand good."

Padres note

OF Terrmel Sledge was 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs. Sledge, who is 4-for-9 this spring, was robbed of a second homer.

-- Contact staff writer Dan Hayes at dhayes@nctimes.com. Comment at sports@nctimes.com.