Meet Casey Crosby

A few days ago breaking news announced that the Dodgers had signed left-hander Casey Crosby to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. It might not be seen as breaking news for the Dodger faithful who have suffered through a long World Series Championship drought but I expect it is to the 31-year-old Crosby who was born one month before the Dodgers clinched the 1988 World Series on October 20, 1988. His is a classic story, one of many among young men who have chosen to follow the nearly impossible road to MLB that is littered with a variety of potholes waiting to derail careers.

His career aspiration to become an MLB player started during his high school years and continued along a very difficult road to his invitation to 2020 Spring training with the Dodgers. Crosby was born in Maple Park, Illinois, a small town in Kane County which is about an hour’s drive west of Chicago. He graduated from Kaneland High School in his home town.

His row of potholes began in his sophomore year in high school when he suffered a torn meniscus in his throwing arm. Bounce back number one then came in his junior high school year when he returned throwing almost 90 mph up from 80 mph before his injury. The increase in velocity was attributed to a growth spurt at age 17 as he began to fill out his now 6’5”/225-lb frame. All of a sudden scouts showed up from all corners to watch him pitch as he garnered numerous awards including the Gatorade Player of the Year in the State of Illinois. Additionally, scholarship offers came in from universities far and wide but he committed to close to home… The University of Illinois in Chicago.

A signing bonus of $748,500 lured him away from the University of Illinois and he was signed by the Detroit Tigers in the 5th round in 2007. It was expected that he the might go higher in the draft

Then came pothole number two. Shortly after reporting to the Instructional League, the then 18-year old hurt his elbow and as a result, he underwent the now commonplace Tommy John surgery. He sat out the entire 2008 season with the exception of 4.2 innings at the end of August. Lightning does strike twice in the same place. When he reported to Spring Training in 2009 his velocity had again elevated, this time to 98 mph.

“It’s absolutely bizarre. I can’t explain it,” said Crosby referring to being able to throw 98 mph. “You see growing up guys throwing 98 mph and you’re just like wow. How can somebody do that? The ball just looks like it’s jumping off their hands and now I’m throwing 98 mph, it’s very bizarre.”

He bounced right back in 2009  with the West Michigan Whitecaps of the  Class-A Midwest League, going 10-4 with a 2.41 ERA and nearly a strikeout per inning. His ERA would have been league-leading but he was short a few innings of qualifying. His WHIP was 1.13.

Pothole number three limited him to 12.1 innings in 2010 at the start of the season. This time it was a “tired arm”, a baseball term that means the pitcher has tweaked something but doesn’t quite need surgery. It is never good and Crosby was then shut down for the year with the Tigers trying to protect his 21-year old arm.

He did bounce back in 2011 pitching, but not as convincingly as before, the most innings he has pitched in any season tossing 131.2 innings for the Erie Seawolves of the Class-AA Eastern League. He next played two seasons with the AAA Toledo Mud Hens of the  International League with mixed results. That is, with good strikeout numbers but high ERA’s and too many walks. He did have a brief MLB experience in 2012 starting three games with the Tigers while pitching 12.1 innings and allowing 15 earned runs.

Pothole number four came in 2014 when he pitched only 17.1 innings before he was released by the Tigers. Briefly signed by the Red Sox he was released by Boston in April of 2015.

Enough is enough so Casey Crosby left the game he loved and did not play any ball in 2015 and 2016.   In his words, “I was mad at the game,” said Crosby, “I didn’t watch baseball in 2015 or the regular season in 2016,”

“It was really hard,” Haley Crosby said. “I could see he felt like he lost his identity. We didn’t watch baseball or talk about it. It was like he didn’t know what the next step was. He stopped working out, wasn’t talking much and finally told me he was done.”

During his two years away from the game, he spent time with his family, worked in a bank and finished a college degree in accounting at Northern Illinois. Although he didn’t watch any regular season baseball, he did tune in to the 2016 World Series as he and his wife Haley had grown up Cub fans. “I watched those games and couldn’t take my eyes off it,” he said.  Although he remembered all too well the pain the game had inflicted on his arm, Casey Crosby again had an itch that needed to be scratched. He opted to try to catch on with an independent team so he could be close to home to finish his degree.

He took a new approach to the game in preparation for another try at mission impossible. His wife took the next step, researching a diet that was designed to naturally help reduce inflammation.

“Gluten-free, no more dairy, red meat, and a lot less processed sugars,” he said. “No cheese and cheese comes with everything. Now, it’s mainly chicken and pork. Fish is OK, too, but a lot of it is too light for me.”

He studied video of pitchers who were able to remain healthy and worked on his mechanics, changing his arm slot and trying to shorten his delivery.

In a July 2017 tryout arranged by his agent for a dozen major league scouts, his fastball was clocked in the mid-90s but he needed to show more. He signed with the Lincoln, Nebraska, Saltdogs of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball in early August and pitched in relief for six weeks. Over 16.2 innings he posted a 2.16 ERA. The stats were not the most important achievement for Crosby.

“The main thing was I was pain-free,” he said of his 16 appearances. “That was my goal.”

His bounce-back was a signing by the Minnesota Twins for the 2018 season and posting a 2.95 ERA at three levels over 17 relief appearances and 21.1 innings pitched. Crosby chose free agency at the end of the season but did not get an MLB bite going into the 2019 season

Continuing in relief in 2019 and in independent ball he pitched 46.2 innings over 42 games posting a 1.74 ERA with 75 strikeouts and 34 walks. .

In an August interview, Crosby indicated that he was ready to go on with his baseball career.

“This is the best I’ve felt in a long time,” Crosby said. “Ever since the surgery, it’s been great, knock on wood.

“I’m feeling great, so great in fact that I’m even considering playing after the season is done, somewhere in winter ball. It’s the first time I’ve known that I can take it on and I’m available to do it.”

One expects that being signed by the Dodgers removes his possibility of winter ball with the encouragement to continue working out in a different manner. Perhaps with Driveline.

What does Casey Crosby have to offer an MLB team at age 31? According to his independent league coach, Chicago Dogs manager Butch Hobson, he is definitely worth taking a second look at.

“I don’t know why, with that arm, somebody hasn’t picked him up already,” Hobson said. “It’s definitely a possibility. It’s one of those things where it’s a matter of them coming to see him pitch,”

“He’s done very well for us,” Hobson said. “He’s a big part of the back end of our bullpen. I like the way he goes about his business. He’s a good guy.

“I like him a lot — great athlete, great arm.”

Crosby is a gamer who has changed his approach to become more efficient and effective at the game while protecting his arm. He is a huge believer in analytics and they have certainly revitalized his career. His spin rate of 2600+ has become more efficient while the vertical movement on his fastball with a significant rise, registers up to 20.8 inches. 

Here is a video of him using his 3-pitch mix – fastball, curveball, changeup.

Former MLB @CaseyCrosby2 96-98 MPH Bullpen. Up to 20.8” VB and 2700 RPM. 14.5 K/9 this year. Current Free Agent. Rapsodo data to follow. @FlatgroundApp @PitchingNinja @TheChicagoDogs pic.twitter.com/Afd48yny56

— Jordan Dean (@Jordan_Dean1) November 28, 2019

Keeping in mind the following metrics are from a bullpen session, this is how they rank among other MLB left-handers. We might say because of the bullpen session only, they are untried at the MLB level but nevertheless intriguing.

Fastball velocity – 99th percentile

Fastball vertical movement – 96th percentile

Curveball vertical movement – 99th percentile

Still throwing in the upper 90’s, the challenges for Casey Crosby are to replicate these metrics in competition and to improve on his K/BB ratio. Those are mighty big challenges but just another pothole in the road for him to overcome.