ARLINGTON — The strikezone keeps getting smaller and smaller, David Robertson said.
The veteran reliever who signed a $10 million one-year deal with the Texas Rangers on Friday, wasn't complaining about MLB umpiring. He was giving a nod to the league's hitters.
The right-hander who turns 39 in April, remembers how he could rely on a blistering fastball early in his career, which included his first seven seasons with the New York Yankees. He's with his eighth team — including two stops with the Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies — and has remained an effective reliever by adjusting, espeically after a 2019 Tommy John surgery.
"The hitters have a better eye for the strike zone every year. So I've just been trying to do my best as I've gotten older to keep the ball in the zone and trust in my defense more and quit trying to go for so many strikeouts," Robertson said. "Obviously, strikeouts are great, and I go for them when I can, but in the meantime, I am trying to pitch to contact and try to get soft contact as fast as possible."
He was 6-6 with 18 saves and 78 strikeouts in 65.1 innings during stints with the New York Mets and Miami Marlins in 2023. It's his 11th season with 60 or more relief innings. He's averaged 12 or more strikeouts per nine innings in nine seasons. He averaged 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings in 2023. He relies less on missing bats with high-end heat than he did as a rookie in 2008, but in many ways that's made him a better pitcher.
"Back in those days, I was kind of considered a hard thrower. Then it seemed like within a matter of two or three years, everybody started doing 100 [mph]," he said. "I had to adapt and figure out other ways to get guys out. So I relied a lot more on control, learned how to spin the ball faster, and using my breaking ball a lot more."
Being able to locate his curveball has allowed him to throw it in any count.
"It really saved my career," he said. "I mix in a slider, it's not my best pitch, but it is effective. I think being able to balance three pitches works. When I was younger, I was throwing two pitches and throwing a lot more fastballs. It's been a big key for me. I'm always willing to adapt."
As for his role in the bullpen, along with Jose Leclerc, Josh Sborz and others, Robertson says he genuinely doesn't care.
"It doesn't matter to me when I pitch in the game. I'm just there to be prepared and be ready to go out there and face whoever I've got to face," he said. "In the past, it's been been the high leverage innings, I'm taking on the meat of the order. But I'm open to however they're going to use me. If it's closing down games, great. I'm sure that could happen. I'm well-prepared for whatever they throw at me, I'll be ready to go. I have no problem with [what role I'm filling]. I'm not in this game to close down games. I'm in this to win games, however we have to win."
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