Hillsborough’s Matt Krook fighting to return to normal on the mound

So, it was an auspicious day at the outset of June when Krook, now pitching in the New York Yankees organization, was informed he was being promoted to Scranton Wilkes-Barre to make his Triple-A debut for the first-place RailRiders.

“For me it was awesome after being in Double-A for a very long time,” Krook said. “It’s definitely meant a lot. All the work in the offseason that made it all worth it. It was definitely a very happy, good moment.”

A native of Hillsborough, Krook has long been a sought-after southpaw prospect since his days at St. Ignatius-SF. He was originally drafted in 2013 with the 35th overall pick by the Marlins, but opted to attend University of Oregon. After undergoing Tommy John surgery as a sophomore, he fell to the fourth round of the 2016 draft when he was selected 125th overall by the Giants.

It might seem logical to think Krook’s draft days were over once he turned pro, but baseball sometimes is an illogical game. And when the Rays did not protect Krook on the 40-man roster prior to the 2021 season, the lefty was exposed to the Rule 5 draft, and was selected in the Triple-A Phase by the Yankees.

“My agent just called me a couple days before the Rule 5 and was just like: ‘Hey, there’s a really good chance you’re going to get taken,’” Krook said. “Then it was just a couple days of being: ‘OK, here we go again. Team No. 3 possibly.’ Then to getting taken by the Yankees, which is one of the best organizations in all of sports. So, it’s been great.”

It also marked a return to fulltime starting pitching for Krook, who had been bounced around between the rotation and the bullpen in two seasons in the Rays’ system. Of his 69 appearances with Tampa Bay Double-A affiliate Montgomery, 45 of them were in relief. This year between two levels, Krook has pitched in 14 games, including 13 starts.

The starting assignment quickly prompted the sinker-slider specialist to develop a new pitch. So, Krook took his low-90s fastball and learned a cutter grip to incorporate a pitch with which he can get strikes.

“The sinker and the breaking ball have always been good,” Krook said. “It’s sort of what makes me, me. The cutter was just something, it’s easier to get in the zone because it doesn’t move quite as much. It was just good to have a third pitch. And going back to starting this year after being a reliever then past few years, I just had to get a third pitch.”

Filling up the strike zone has long proven a challenge for Krook, who has been plagued by control issues throughout his career. The strikeout numbers have always been impressive, as Krook entered 2021 with a 10.3 strikeouts-per-nine-innings ratio. His base-on-balls rate, however, has been diametrically eye-popping, at 6.43 walks-per-nine.

Through seven starts at Double-A Somerset to start the year, Krook surpressed the control issues through seven starts. Through 29 1/3 innings, he allowed just 15 hits and 11 walks while striking out 44.

In seven outings at Triple-A, however, Krook’s newly discovered control has waned. In his last start, last Wednesday, he last just three innings; and despite yielding just one run on four hits, he walked a season-worst six.

“These guys are really good hitters,” Krook said of Triple-A hitters, “a lot more advanced in their approach. So, that’s the biggest difference. Guys are older, they’re better, they’ve been playing forever.”

Krook’s night started with a scare, though, when he was struck in the leg by a comeback line drive off the bat of Albert Almora Jr. to start the game. He went on to walk to of the next three batters before inducing an inning-ending double play.

Now, the left-hander with the big, sweeping three-quarter arm motion is looking get back to seizing on the Yankees’ philosophy of filling up the strike zone. It’s a philosophy the Yankees made clear by acquiring major league left-hander Andrew Heaney from the Angels at the trade deadline. Heaney — who, like Krook, was once a first-round draft pick of the Marlins — has long been revered as a control specialist.

“Pitch usage has been something that [the Yankees] talk about a lot,” Krook said. “But other than that, they picked me for a reason, I guess. … Just try to be in the zone a little bit more. That’s obviously been the biggest thing they’ve harped on.”

But simply establishing a sense of normalcy is a big change for Krook.

While minor leaguers across the nation were all disadvantaged by having the 2020 season canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Krook endured a different type of unthinkable tragedy in 2019 suffered by his Montgomery Biscuits teammate, pitcher Blake Bivens, whose wife, son and mother-in-law were killed in a triple homicide in August 2019.

“That was probably the worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Krook said. “That was a tough couple days.”

Then in 2020, after quarantining at his family’s home in Half Moon Bay, he relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina in September 2020 at Tread Athletics, a baseball training facility run by his now former teammate in the Rays’ organization, Tyler Zombro.

So, it was another type of horror this season when, on June 3, Zombro was struck in the head by line drive while pitching for Triple-A Durham. Zombro had to be carted off the field and rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery to have metal plate placed in his head. He was hospitalized for two weeks, including five days in the intensive care unit.

“He’s doing a lot better,” Krook said, who has named Zombro a groomsman for his wedding in San Carlos in November. “He sent me a video yesterday of him running for the first time. Yeah, he’s doing a lot better.”

Now, the 26-year-old Krook is looking to continue his 2021 success through the last month of the minor league season.

“I think now just finishing up the year really strong and getting back to what I was doing,” Krook said. “Every outing has been good for me except the last two. So, just washing those two away and then getting back to what I was doing well and finish the year up strong and where I want to be. Kind of make this the year I want to make a statement.”