Recordpub.com - Carmona eager to prove winning 19 games was no fluke

Associated Press
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. " Sweat dripped down Fausto Carmona's face like he was caught in a Florida rainstorm.
Though it wasn't his day to pitch, the Cleveland Indians' right-hander wasn't about to kick back and rest on his 19-win season of a year ago.
"Of everything in this game, the only thing I can control is how hard I work," the 24-year-old said Tuesday while toweling off after two hours of intense exercise. "I worked to get to the major leagues. Now I work harder to get better."
Improving his 19-8 record and 3.06 ERA, second in the AL in 2007, sounds a little far-fetched " until you realize just how much better that was from 2006. That's when he went 1-10 with a 5.42 ERA, including a disastrous trial as a closer in which he blew three saves and a tie in one week.
"We don't expect him to go out and win 19 games again," said manager Eric Wedge, trying to quell over-hyped expectations. "As long as he keeps the focus on himself, that will be enough. He can give us a chance to win."
A year ago, Carmona came to camp trying to put behind him that 1-10 record and just win a job. This year, he's got a job but again must extinguish memories " of his final two outings in 2007 when he was raked for 11 runs in six innings over two starts by Boston in the ALCS.
"I learned from the pressure of the playoffs," he said. "In baseball, it's always about winning, but I recognized there's a lot more pressure in the playoffs.
"This year, everything is new. All the good things of last year, that's over. All the bad things, too."
His first outing this spring replicated his past postseason. Monday against Toronto, he gave up two runs and five hits with a walk, a hit batter and a strikeout in only 1 2-3 innings.
"I was overthrowing, but I felt fine, no problem," Carmona said.
His teammates believe Carmona has what it takes to not only survive but thrive this year, however.
"He's got such a good feel for pitching and works so darn hard that I don't see how he can't succeed," said first baseman Ryan Garko, who caught Carmona in the minors.
"Who knows if he'll win 19 again because there's so many things he can't control like how many runs we score, things like that," Garko continued. "He could only win 15 ... but he might win 25."
Garko thinks Carmona can improve by throwing his fastball and pitches other than his devastating sinker.
"Everybody knows how great his sinker is, but he's throwing his four-seamer again," Garko said. "That's all he threw in A ball and he consistently hit the corners on both sides of the plate and was a big winner."
Jake Westbrook, who has won 50 games over the past four seasons with his best pitch being the sinker, said he only wishes he had Carmona's stuff.
"To be able to throw it 94, 95 mph with the movement he has in unreal," Westbrook said. "As long as he keeps it down in the zone, he's going to have success."
Catcher Victor Martinez maintains that Carmona could win a game by throwing only the sinker.
"I've never seen that pitch from anybody as a hitter and I've never caught anything like it from anybody else," said Martinez, who won't call the pitch all the time just to save wear and tear on himself. "If Fausto stays focused, throws his other pitches for strikes, he's one of the best pitchers in the game."