On Monday evening (April 13) I watched the Tulsa Drillers home game on MiLB.TV. When I tuned in right-hander Matt Shelton was taking the mound for the Drillers. His appearance was interesting, as it turned out, on two counts.

First, Shelton has spent most of his minor league career in the Dodgers system as a reliever and has been quite successful in that role.

He was drafted by the Dodgers in the 24th-round of the 2011 First Year Player Draft. At the time of the draft he was in his fourth year at Sam Houston State University. With the Bearkats he pitched both as a starter and in relief during those four years. As a reliever in 2009 he posted an ERA of 1.99 while in 2011 as a starter his ERA was 2.87 ERA through 94 innings. Upon being drafted the 6’4”, 205-pound Shelton quickly signed with the Dodgers.

While his innings were limited to 26 with the Rookie League Ogden Raptors following his college season, he posted a 2.05 ERA and a WHIP of 1.10. He struck out 30 while walking 8.

Shelton began the 2012 season as a 23-year old with the Great Lakes Loons of the Class A Midwest League. In 67 innings he posted an ERA of 2.81. His 43 appearances, all out of the bullpen, were the second most in team history. His 10 holds ranked him third in Loons history. He continued to strike out a hitter per inning and hit only one batter in 2012.

The right-handed Shelton was promoted to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2013 after one appearance with the Loons. Armed with a fastball, curveball and change up he recorded a 2.45 ERA with the High A level Quakes, continued to strike out a hitter per inning, and also continued to give up less than a hit per inning. On August 26 he made his first professional career start filling in for the injured Geison Aguasviva. In 3.2 innings he gave up one run on four hits.

Shelton began his 2014 season with the Quakes making eight relief appearances before being promoted to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class A Southern League. As a reliever in Rancho Cucamonga he posted a 1.76 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP.

He made 11 relief appearances with the Lookouts in a relief role giving up three earned runs in 12 innings for a 2.25 ERA. On June 3rd Shelton made his first of 16 starts with the Lookouts. On the season he posted a 4.15 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 86 innings. In his last six starts of the season he had an ERA of 2.81 while striking out 34 in 32 innings.

Matt Shelton finished the 2014 season as a starter for the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts.
(Photo credit – Tim Evearitt)

In his recent Monday night start Matt Shelton pitched four innings giving up four hits and three earned runs. He struck out four and walked three. One of those walks and a HBP scored for the Corpus Christi Hooks. Although on paper it doesn’t sound like a strong outing, all four hits allowed by Shelton were ground ball singles, one deflected by the pitcher and another a seeing eye hit that just split the middle infielders. Even in his walks Shelton was just missing low on the inside or outside of the plate.

There was also a second reason why Matt Shelton’s start was of particular interest. Early in the contest Tulsa broadcaster Dennis Higgins started to speak about a new pitch on which Matt Shelton had been working in spring training. He is not at a comfort level that will allow him to use it regularly in games but may well use it sparingly mixed in with his repertoire that includes a breaking pitch and change up along with his fast ball.

As soon as Higgins mentioned Charlie Hough the cat was out of the bag. While at Camelback Ranch during spring training Hough became convinced that Matt Shelton is a natural to throw a knuckleball. The reason or reasons for Hough’s enthusiasm were not outlined so we can only speculate that their is something about Shelton’s hand or delivery that make him a candidate to throw the knuckler. We can also speculate that Charlie Hough would love to promote the knuckleball pitcher but can equally be as certain he would not do so unless he was determined there was an exceptional candidate. Pitching coach Matt Herges, according to Higgins, referred to to Shelton’s new pitch as a “dynamic knuckleball.”

As baseball fans all know the knuckleball is an unorthodox pitch. Most pitches make use of the spin on the baseball, often the more spin the better the pitch. The knuckleball is thrown so as to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing what might be described as a somewhat erratic, unpredictable motion. Mastering it is no small feat so it is indeed interesting that the Dodgers would be interested in Matt Shelton as a knuckleball prospect.

The Dodgers have had knuckleball specialists in the past that have forged part of their successful careers in Dodger Blue. Charlie Hough, along with Tom Candiotti, were both valuable as starters while Hough actually racked up 49 saves as a Dodger to accompany his 216 career victories.

R.A. Dickey of the Toronto Blue Jays is the best known present day knuckleball pitcher in major league baseball, perhaps the only one. He won a Cy Young Award in 2012. Phil Niekro – “Knucksie” – is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Hoyt Wilhelm and Wilbur Wood pitched for what seemed to be forever. In light of their successes one wonders why the knuckleball is on life support.

Charlie Hough and Tim Wakefield have a similar reason to explain its seemingly pending extinction. Hough says that the increased rarity of the knuckleball is due to scouts increasingly looking only for the best arm. Wakefield argues that “The problem is that [baseball] is so radar gun-oriented.”

In the face of all odds Matt Shelton may well be using the knuckleball to help blaze his trail to major league baseball. If Charlie Hough is correct – and who could argue with him – Shelton has the physical attributes necessary to successfully throw a knuckler. He has had experience as a reliever and a starter and has a fastball that sits in the low to mid – 90’s. A good fast ball to complement a slow knuckleball could make a lethal combination.

The next time Matt Shelton starts I will definitely pay more attention to his pitch selection.