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TORONTO -- Bailey Falter was 18 years old when he first met Brian Sweeney, a former big league pitcher who was just getting into coaching in Rookie ball with the Gulf Coast League Phillies. Falter had been drafted in the fifth round of the 2015 Draft by the Phillies and headed to Rookie ball at the team’s Florida complex to get his professional career started.
Sweeney was Falter’s first pitching coach.
A decade later, they reunited in the big leagues.
Now the Royals’ pitching coach, Sweeney welcomed Falter to the organization on Thursday when he was traded by the Pirates for Triple-A lefty reliever Evan Sisk and High-A first baseman Callan Moss.
“He got to deal with me as a young buck coming up, figuring everything out,” Falter said. “Brian has been awesome with me. A lot of respect for him, and I’m happy to start working with him again.”
Sweeney added: “Being at the complex is an amazing learning environment for a coach. Different cultures, young pitchers, older pitchers, some rehabbing big leaguers. I learned a lot there. And here comes Bailey Falter, 150 pounds out of high school in California, with an incredible delivery. He was a kid who had just finished prom and now has a full-time job.”
Now Falter is 28 years old and jumping into a Royals rotation that needs reinforcements. His first chance is Monday at Fenway Park, as the Royals continue to chase the Red Sox and four other teams in the American League Wild Card mix.
“I’m very excited,” Falter said. “We’re in the playoff hunt right now. I’m excited to get over here and help these guys as much as possible to get that job done.”
Falter’s delivery -- one of Sweeney’s “favorite” deliveries he’s ever seen, he said -- is what left such a lasting impression 10 years ago and still does today. The smoothness, efficiency and elite extension all stand out.
At 6-foot-4, deceptiveness is a huge part of what the lefty does on the mound.
“Peak knee flow, through the stride, phase into the foot plant to release is all what his body wants to do,” Sweeney said. “He’s not fighting it. And he’s been doing it since he was 18 years old. His preference is to move this way, and he’s never changed that. He’s changed his setup a little bit, but it’s just a smooth, free, easy delivery with a lot of extension that helps a fastball play miles per hour harder.”
Falter has a 3.73 ERA this year across 22 starts. It’s been one of his best seasons as he settles into the big leagues, and he’s not only looking to continue what he’s done so far but keep improving by working with the Royals’ pitching team.
That’s partly why Falter was such an intriguing option for the Royals at the Deadline. He’s played parts of five seasons in the big leagues, first with the Phillies and then the Pirates the past two years. He has a solid foundation, but the Royals feel like there’s untapped potential.
“Part of the reason we acquired him is we think there’s a higher ceiling for him,” Sweeney said. “I feel like we can help him fine tune the pitches that he has, maybe get the strikeouts he’s looking for or just a change of profile to open up another pitch in his repertoire. I think Bailey has a lot more in him.”
The Royals will dive deeper into what exactly that means with Falter after his start on Monday, but expect a lot of the conversation to revolve around a kick-changeup he picked up with the Pirates last year.
Monday is simply about showing what he’s got and giving the Royals a chance to win. The same goes for rookie Ryan Bergert, whom the Royals acquired from San Diego, when he starts on Tuesday. There hasn’t been a ton of time for either pitcher to ease into their new team. They met everyone Saturday in Toronto, with Falter throwing his first bullpen that day and Bergert throwing his on Sunday.
Now they have to go out and perform.
“It’s just about understanding their journey and meeting them there, not expecting them to know everything, and you don’t want them to think they have to take the team on their back,” Sweeney said. “You’re good at what you do from 60 feet, six inches away. Let’s do that. And the details will start filling in. We want to make it an environment where they can feel like they're accepted, they can grow, and we can keep getting better together.”