Guardians’ surprise starter finds success pitching with conviction and attitude

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ben Lively is jealous of pitchers who throw 100 mph. He tells them that.

"I tell everyone that," said Lively. "I'm so jealous that you throw 100. I tell them, 'Dude, if you could dot it up (locate it), you'd be unreal.' Of course, that's my thought process. I wish I could go out there and just let it eat."

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Lively in winning his eighth game of the season Thursday, held the White Sox. to three runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked one in a 8-4 win by the Guardians.

His fastest pitch was 93.1 mph. His slowest was 75.5 mph.

"You have to stay honest," said Lively. "Everyone is a different pitcher. I try to locate and mix it up. Other guys try to blow doors. Just pitch who you are. Be your guy."

When a pitcher says he wants to "let it eat," he's talking about throwing his best pitch right down the middle of the plate. It's a, 'Here it is, let's see if you can hit it' challenge to the hitter.

When the Guardians signed Lively in December to a one-year deal, it was one of those "in other news" moves. A dot-dot-dot reference at the bottom of the real baseball story of the day.

No wonder Lively, who spent the previous four seasons pitching South Korea, Class AAA Louisville and the Reds, saw it, perhaps, as a last-chance opportunity.

"It was like, 'Here we go, dude,'" said Lively, when asked about his expectation in signing with Cleveland. "I mean straight-up I could have been here for two weeks. That's just the way it goes. I just figured a couple of fastball locations out. Had a couple of good games.

"I just didn't want to look back. It was just getting that opportunity. Foot on the gas. That's the only thing I'm thinking about. One speed. Let's go."

When the Guardians signed Lively, they were talking about a long relief role. Injuries to Gavin Williams early in spring training and Shane Bieber a week into the regular season changed their thought process.

Lively opened the season on the injured list after being knocked for a loop by a viral infection that hit the Guardians in Goodyear, Arizona. By April 17, however, he was in the rotation and "hasn't looked back."

In 14 starts, Lively is 8-4 with a 3.14 ERA. Just once he's allowed more than three earned runs in a start.

How big is eight wins to Lively? His big league career record entering the season was 8-17 with Philadelphia, Kansas City and Cincinnati. He went 10-12 with a 4.14 ERA two-plus seasons in Korea.

"It's so easy working with him," said catcher Bo Naylor. "I feel we're always on the same page. He just throws everything with such conviction.

"He's been huge for us. If you ask him, he always understood his identity and how important he is. I think it's something we realized quick. Especially after losing a couple of good arms early, he understood there was an opportunity in front of him and went at it head on."

Conviction and a let-it-eat attitude is hard to beat. Somewhere along the line — maybe it had something to do with going to Korea to keep his career going — Lively learned that.

"I've left the sense of doubt out of my pitches," he said. "You're always worried about throwing a certain breaking ball to a certain hitter."

Lively pointed to Thursday's at-bat against Paul DeJong in the sixth inning. Naylor called for a slider with the count 2-2. Lively shook to his fastball.

"I wanted to throw a fastball away. Bo wanted a slider," said Lively. "I wanted to throw that fastball. But I had that conviction. I just threw it over the middle of the plate."

DeJong turned it into a two-run homer, but to Lively his conviction was the most important thing. It helped that the Guardians were still leading, 7-2.

"I feel like all that (doubt) has been eliminated from my game plan," said Lively. "I'm just throwing everything with conviction. I'm throwing everything as hard as I can. Even though it's not that hard, but I'm still throwing it hard."

A doubt-free mind, a let-it-eat-attitude and an 8-4 record from longshot arm. Who could ask for more?