Diehard Q&A: Jonathan Egan

Diehard columnist Chris Paddock spoke to Lowell catcher Jonathan Egan during last weekend’s “Futures at Fenway” doubleheader and gets the prospect to open up on a variety of personal and professional topics. Don’t miss this fascinating Q&A! (FREE PREVIEW OF PREMIUM CONTENT)

Jonathan Egan was Boston’s 2nd-round pick in 2005. Drafted for his raw power, Egan surprised with his glove in his debut season in the Gulf Coast League, but disappointed with his bat (.222 with one home run in 126 at-bats). Shortly after the season was over, Egan was arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance and driving while intoxicated. Egan rebounded with an excellent season in the GCL this year, earning himself a promotion to short-season Lowell. He made his Spinners debut in the “The Futures at Fenway” doubleheader this past Saturday.

Diehard: You missed Spring Training this year, which made fans wonder if you were going to play at all this season. What was the reason for the delay?
Jonathan Egan: I had some personal things to take care. I had to get some things squared away so I could play ball and put all that behind me, and all that stuff is behind me. I’m learning from my mistakes and just looking at it as something that happened in the past, something I can grow from every day.

DH: Have you had any pressure from the media or your teammates to talk about those personal issues?
JE: Really, the only time I’ve had to talk about it was last year in instructional league. I just addressed the team and apologized for what happened. They pretty much told me that they would be there for me no matter what it was that they had to do. And they’ve done nothing but help me through it and keep me positive, and I’m thankful for that.

DH: Is there anything pending legally with what happened last fall?
JE: That’s all pretty much taken care of. That was pretty much what delayed me from being [in Ft. Myers], getting things taken care of with that. Everything turned out good. I’m thankful, and I’m glad to be back playing baseball.

DH: It showed in the boxscores. You had a nice season at the plate in the GCL [.339, four homers, 19 RBI].
I went out this year and focused on what I needed to do. Last year, I was just happy to be there. I really didn’t have any goals. This year, I wanted to get [promoted] as quick as I could. I stayed [in the GCL] the whole season, which doesn’t bother me one bit. I’m just glad I had a good year and I’m hoping to continue to do that while I’m up [in Lowell].

DH: How about your defense? There was a lot of talk about how good you were behind the plate last year.
JE: The only thing I feel down on is my throwing. Last year, that was one of the best parts of my game. This year, it wasn’t as good in the beginning, but toward the end of the season it was getting better. I think it was because I had more games under my belt. I didn’t play for six or seven months. Being in a game-speed environment helped me a lot.

DH: What would you say your strengths are as a catcher as this point in the development process?
JE: Probably calling the game and just receiving. I think I need to continue to be more vocal. That’s one thing that I started to work on a lot from the middle of the GCL to the end.

DH: When you talk about being more vocal, what do you mean?
JE: Taking charge of the game and being a leader on the field. Letting the infielders and outfielders know where we’re going with everything. As far as pitchers, I couldn’t have asked for a better pitching staff than what we had this year. We were all pretty much on the same page. I liked catching them and most of them liked throwing to me.

DH: Could you tell us a little about Felix Doubront? He’s one of the best young pitchers in the system, but we don’t know much about him beyond his great statistics.
JE: He’s awesome. He throws strikes with three pitches. He’s a battler. He doesn’t give in to anybody. You could be Barry Bonds up there and he’ll still throw you a fastball inside. And if you hit it, you hit it. If not, he’s going to come right back with it. He’s got good command. He gets ahead, he knows what he wants to do. He doesn’t really ever panic. I love catching him.

DH: How hard does Doubront throw?
JE: There’s games where he throws high 80s, and then there’s games where he might throw mid-80s. He might hit 90 or 91 every now and then. He mixes it up on you. You never know what to expect. You know when he comes out there he’s going to battle and give you a good shot to win.

DH: What is his secondary stuff like?
JE: He throws a curveball, like a 1-to-7 curveball. It’s pretty good. He’s got a real good changeup. He actually throws two different changeups. One just runs down and away, hard. And he throws another one that’s almost like a splitter, it has a lot of sink to it. He’ll throw those in any count.

DH: That must make his fastball look a lot faster.
JE: It’s amazing. He comes right inside with the fastball—pound you in, pound you in. And then when you think he’s coming back in, he’ll just throw something a little softer on the outside corner, and [the hitter] will be so far out in front. It’s fun catching him.

DH: I can see why. It sounds like he must be pretty efficient.
JE: One time this year we played 6 innings in 45 minutes. Their guy was throwing fastballs right down the middle and Felix was out there, just, bam-bam-bam, one, two, three. I was just, like, goll-lly. Those are the games we like [smiles].

DH: It seemed like Jose Capellan took a positive step this year. What is your take on him?
JE: He started out really well. He was going deep into games. No one really roughed him up. Then he hit a stretch for three or four outings where things weren’t going too well. And then the last couple starts of the year, he came back to his normal self and started battling. Between him and Doubront, those are two tough lefties. If you have to face them in a three-game series, you’re going to have trouble winning that series.

DH: Does Capellan throw harder than Doubront?
JE: He’s a high-80s guy. He throws pretty much the same stuff as Doubront, but he throws more of a ‘slurve.’ It’s a ‘slurve’ that’s more like a slider because he throws it so hard. One day he throws a slider and the next day he throws a ‘slurve.’ He makes it up. He keeps you guessing. You never know what to expect with him, but you know he’s going to come out there and throw strikes. And he’s one of those guys that gets better when he gets hit around. If he has a rough first inning, he might come back the next inning and shut you down for the rest of the game. When he gets out there he’s sort of laid back. But once you start hitting him, he gets mad. He starts pumping it in there a little harder. As soon he gets the ball from the catcher, he’s ready to throw. By the time the batter has one foot in, he’s already coming set, ready to pitch.

DH: What other GCL pitchers made an impression on you?
JE: Jorge Rodriguez. He started the final [GCL] championship game. He has a great fastball. It explodes out of his hand. It doesn’t have a lot of movement, but the ball comes out of his hand really well. You look at him and you don’t think he’s going to throw 93, 94, but the ball just comes out of his hand so good. And for a curveball, he has a hammer. He’s one of those guys who doesn’t shake you off. He just throws what you put down. He’s got confidence in any pitch on any count.

DH: What about the bullpen? Did anyone stand out there?
JE: Our closer, Will Mann. He had a lot of sink on his fastball, and he threw three pitches for strikes at anytime. He was a smart pitcher. He came from college, and it showed. He knew how to get guys out. When he came in, we didn’t have to worry about it. It was like “We’ve got this game.” It was kind of fun. It’s like [Jonathan] Papelbon. He comes in and it’s like, all right, let’s go home, pack it up.

The pitching staff was great. It might be the best pitching staff I’ve ever caught in my life as far as getting guys out and being on the same page. It was a really good year down there.

DH: Your GCL team won the league championship. What was your playoff experience like?
JE: We didn’t do anything the first game. We were up against a guy that wasn’t overpowering. In a three-game series, we didn’t see anything but off-speed stuff. And in the division we play in, a lot of guys come at you with the fastball. There’s a lot of guys that throw hard. But in the first game, out of about 150 pitches, we saw maybe 20-25 fastballs. Normally, it’s the other way around. It’s tough on hitters making adjustments. The second game of the series was the same way. We got a couple breaks and some timely hitting, and we got a win.

In the third game we felt like there was no way we could lose. Our whole bullpen was rested. I think we only used two relievers in the first two games. Our starting pitchers went deep in both games, so we were fully rested and ready to go. We were all saying that there was no way we could lose with our pitching like this. We had great pitchers going, and they dominated all year long. They gave us a chance to win, and we put some runs up. It was fun.

DH: What about your promotion? Did you see it coming? JE: I pulled a muscle in my arm prior to the playoffs. My arm got really tight. My manager asked if I could play and I told him that I didn’t play all year to not play in the playoffs. I wanted to play, but he told me he didn’t want me to catch and then have to take me out because he said we needed my bat.

I didn’t play in the first game [of the playoffs] and I wasn’t happy, but I was throwing before the next game and he said ‘How does it feel?’ and I said ‘I’m good.’ And he said ‘Alright, but don’t mess it up because there’s something playing for you when this is all over with.’ So I knew I was going somewhere, but I didn’t know where.

I’m just happy to be [in Lowell], get out of that hot weather and be in front of some fans to play. That’s a tough league to play in. The only people in the stands are people with a radar gun and a pitching or hitting chart, and that’s it. You might have four or five fans, and those are parents or friends of the players

DH: Lowell, of course, already has an all-star catcher, Luis Exposito, and you’re both the same age. How do you think that will work as you both move through the system?
JE: That’s a toss-up, I guess. You guys have just as much of a clue as we do. I wouldn’t mind moving up along with him, playing side-by-side, splitting catching every other day, or him catching most of the games and me not catching, or me catching and him not catching. He’s a great guy. I played against him growing up, in summer tournaments. After he signed, he called me and told me he was in Ft. Myers. I was like, no way. I told him I’d be down there soon. I got down there and we started hanging out again. I’m just happy to be [in Lowell] with him. He’s fun to be around. He keeps you on your feet, keeps you laughing.

DH: You helped your team win the GCL league championship in Florida on Friday, and you made your Single A debut at “Futures at Fenway” the next day in Boston. What was it like playing in front of 30,000 Red Sox fans? JE: That was probably the greatest time I ever had playing baseball in my life. I don’t think you could ever run out of energy playing in an atmosphere like that, in front of that many people, no matter how tired you are. It was kind of a long day for us. We got in at about 2:30 a.m. in the morning and got up around 8 a.m. You might have been tired on the ride over, but once you got to the park you were wide awake. It was probably the best experience I ever had playing baseball. Being in front of that many people, playing in Fenway Park, it was great.

DH: Were you nervous? JE: There’s just so much energy out there. If you don’t control yourself, you can get lost quick. I had a blast even though I only played three innings and got one at bat, just the fact of being there. I didn’t even think I was going to play.

Chris Paddock is a columnist for Diehard Magazine and a regular contributor to Scout.com. You send comments or questions to Chris at [e-mail].