Delcarmen is hopeful after late-season slump

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Manny Delcarmen had reason to be optimistic about his 2009 season.

In his first 11 appearances, spanning 14 innings, he did not allow an earned run, holding opponents to a .184 batting average with 12 strikeouts and eight walks.

But his ERA increased in each month of the season: 0.00 in April; 3.00 in May; 4.00 in June; 4.66 in July; 5.25 in August; and a whopping 14.14 in September. He finished the season with a 5-2 record and 4.53 ERA, a sore shoulder, and the indignity of being left off Boston's postseason roster.

Add in a September car crash, and the right-handed reliever felt like he had been jinxed.

"It was like piling on," he said. "I was like, man, this is rough."

Delcarmen, entering his sixth season with the Red Sox after being their second pick in the 2000 draft, didn't help his situation by concealing his sore shoulder for the last five or six weeks of the season. He didn't tell his manager. He didn't tell his pitching coach. He didn't even tell his agent.

In his last 14 outings, he gave up 12 earned runs in 11 1-3 innings, four home runs, and nine walks with 10 strikeouts. The low point came against Baltimore on Sept. 17, when he faced four batters and gave up two homers and two walks.

"Everybody tells you that you play through bumps and bruises," he said. "You might feel something and it might not be anything. But I just felt like it was something that I could muscle through.

"Before that I felt great. And then slowly I felt something in my shoulder, and I muscled through it, muscled through it. And I keep looking. My velocity's down to like 90, 89, and I'm like 'I know there's something wrong but it will go away.' And it didn't."

So, instead of throwing his fastball, which had the highest average fastball velocity in 2008 at 95.5, he relied increasingly on his changeup.

It was a lesson learned.

"I just think I was hurting myself, which I did. And I didn't finish the year how I wanted. But it was definitely a lesson learned, and if I ever feel anything like that again I'm definitely going to say something."

Now he's looking forward to this season.

With his offseason workouts focused on cardio, Delcarmen is noticeably slimmer than last season, down from 216 to about 208. His shoulder feels good. It might even be too strong, he said.

"That's what I was telling (pitching coach John) Farrell," Delcarmen said. "I just feel really, maybe too good right now. And I told him I didn't throw like that in a while. And coming in (to spring training), everything, like fastball's straight, it's not really tailing. Changeup's hard. Curveball's breaking good and just putting the mechanics all together. And I think it's going to be a fun year for me."

A Boston native, the 28-year-old Delcarmen grew up in Hyde Park and knows what it means to be a Red Sox fan.

"I know what to expect," he said. "So, if I stink, I know how to react because I know how I would react. But the fans have been awesome the whole time I've been here, even though I got booed one time ... This was like three years ago. I threw like 11 balls in a row and then I threw a strike and they all started (cheering).

"But I definitely can't ask for more. Being able to stay home and pitch here. I love it."