JetHawks’ Ace Wears Poker Face

LANCASTER â€”  The secret to Ken Cloude’s success is he acts like Greg Maddux but pitches like Randy Johnson.

Cloude, the JetHawks’ ace right-hander, is the combination of poise and power. He blows 92-mph fastballs past hitters, then trots off the mound without so much as a peep or a pounded fist. When he does get hit, you can’t tell by looking at his emotionless face.

Of course, there hasn’t been much opportunity to observe the latter in his brief pro career.

In his first two seasons of Class-A baseball, Cloude had a 2.95 earned-run average with 201 strikeouts in 213 1/3 innings.

This season, he is 8-2 with a 3.23 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 83 2/3 innings, a performance that earned him a spot in the California League all-star game against Carolina League players at 6:05 p.m. Tuesday at the Epicenter in Rancho Cucamonga.

When Cloude learned he had been picked to the team, you can bet he let out a loud . . . well, there might have been a barely detectable smile.

“It’s kind of overwhelming,� he said. “It hasn’t really hit me yet. I think it will when I get there and actually see the people there and the competition we are against. I think it will be something.�

That’s about as much emotion as you can expect from Cloude, a 21-year-old from Baltimore who is the poster boy for poise.

“I think besides having good stuff, poise is the second most important thing,� he said. “You never want to let another know how frustrated you are or how calm you are. You just want to stay at the same level at all times.

“I guess it’s just something you are born with. I don’t think you can teach poise.�

Poise is hard to define in baseball terms, but it translates into having a dominant start in front of a stadium-opening, standing-room-only crowd with the most important man in the Mariner farm system eyeballing you from behind home plate.

Cloude’s seven-inning, one-run, no-walk performance on opening night at the Hangar under the eyes of Larry Beinfest, Seattle’s director of player development, was proof that JetHawk Manager Dave Brundage made the right choice in aligning his rotation for Cloude to get that start.

“I knew he could handle it,� Brundage said. “I knew he wasn’t going to go out there and pitch scared or timid. Scared and timid aren’t in his repertoire. That’s what makes him so successful.�

That and a fastball surprisingly good for someone 6 feet 1 and 180 pounds.

While it seems an increasing number of pitchers are coming into pro baseball with the idea that there’s nothing better than a good breaking pitch, Cloude is among those who believe No. 1 is the sign for a fastball for a reason.

“That’s the best pitch in baseball, if you can throw it where you want to at any time in the count,� he said.

Cloude estimates he throws fastballs around 80% of the time. He is effective because he moves them around the strike zone with pinpoint command and he’s not afraid to blow one inside to knock a hitter off the plate.

“He’s one of the most aggressive young pitchers I’ve seen,� Brundage said. “He goes after you, challenges you.�

Cloude recently added a two-seam fastball, which sinks more than his normal four-seamer. He said he needs to improve his curve and changeup to continue his steady climb up the Mariner ladder.

“Right now I really don’t have the confidence in them,� he said.

It’s strange to hear Cloude talk about a lack of confidence, because Brundage calls that one of his strengths.

“He knows he’s going to get you out,� Brundage said.

You just can’t tell by looking at him. And that’s the idea.

*

Cloude will be joined by second baseman Jason Cook and outfielders Jose Cruz Jr. and Marcus Sturdivant of the JetHawks in Tuesday’s historic game.

It will be the first time that the California League has altered its all-star format to include another league. In 1997, the game will be moved to Carolina League turf, in Durham, N.C.

The Durham Bulls, affiliated with the Braves, are supplying most of the marquee names from the Carolina League, most notably Andruw Jones.

Jones, a 19-year-old outfielder, is considered among the top prospects in the minors. He is hitting .313 with 17 home runs and 40 runs batted in and has a .622 slugging percentage.

Durham also has third baseman Wes Helms, the league’s leading batter at .331, and first baseman Ron Wright, who leads the league with 18 home runs and 59 runs batted in.

Among the Cal League stars to watch are Cruz, Modesto A’s shortstop Miguel Tejada, considered by many the best position player in the league, and San Jose Giants’ closer Russ Ortiz, a Montclair Prep graduate who is perhaps the league’s pitcher closest to the majors.

The game will be proceeded by a home run hitting contest.

About 40 cable systems in Southern California will pick up the live television broadcast of the game, said Rancho Cucamonga Vice President Tom Henderson.

Check local listings for the channel on your system.