Michael Lev: How ex-Wildcat Kevin Ginkel got his mind right for playoff-bound Diamondbacks

PHOENIX — Google can be so cruel sometimes.

Kevin Ginkel, current Arizona Diamondback and former Arizona Wildcat, had one substandard outing recently, and you’d think he was the worst pitcher in baseball.

“Ginkel falters as Diamondbacks blow 3 leads,” one search-engine headline started.

“Diamondbacks’ Kevin Ginkel: Doesn’t have it in loss,” another read.

Never mind that Ginkel had been lights-out for nearly a month. In his previous eight appearances, from Sept. 4-24, he did not surrender a run. In several of those outings, he didn’t allow a baserunner.

Of course, criticism and adversity are nothing new for the tall, hard-throwing right-hander. He’s experienced it all during his five-year MLB career — including the literal ups and downs of being assigned to the minors at some point in each of those five seasons.

The way Ginkel sees it, he wouldn’t be the pitcher he is today — a key reliever for the playoff-bound Diamondbacks, who open their NL Wild Card series Tuesday at Milwaukee — if he hadn’t gone through all that.

“You just have to understand that’s the job I do and that’s what I signed up for,” Ginkel said this past Friday from the D-backs’ dugout at Chase Field, a few hours before their series opener against Houston.

“We all want to be great. But there’s also another side of it: You’re gonna have some tough times. (Whether it’s) an injury or performance-based, you go through that.

“I feel like I’ve grown up a lot. I’ve built more character (to) where I’m like, ‘OK, I’ve handled adversity. I’m going to continue to handle adversity. It’s going to be thrown my way.’

“For me, it’s like I’m not afraid of anything anymore. It’s like, ‘OK, this happens. All right, I’ve been through it. I’ve been through worse.’ It’s just accepting and letting go of whatever possibilities might happen.”

Ginkel just put together the best season, by far, of his major-league career. He notched career highs in wins (nine), saves (four), appearances (60), innings (65⅓) and strikeouts (70). His ERA of 2.48 was his best mark since his rookie season.

I asked what the biggest difference has been this year, and the first thing he mentioned said it all: “Mindset.”

Yes, Ginkel has tweaked his delivery over the past two years under veteran pitching coach Brent Strom. Ginkel also has worked to improve his personal habits, from hydrating to eating to sleeping.

But it’s the mental side of the game where he has made the most strides, and that’s what separates the great from the good, the major-leaguers from the minor-leaguers. So many pitchers can throw 95-mph-plus fastballs with nasty sliders and sweepers these days. Only a select few are able to earn the confidence of their manager to protect a one-run lead in the eighth inning.

Asked what’s enabled Ginkel to have so much success this year, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said: “Probably the persistence, belief in himself, and then going out there and executing at a high level with really good stuff, finishing those pitches. And just a certain attitude that you want every back-end guy to have.”

Strom first watched Ginkel up close during a spring-training bullpen session at Salt River Fields last year. Ginkel’s slider intrigued him. The two worked to smooth out Ginkel’s delivery. But it’s what’s happened since then that’s made the biggest difference.

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“He’s met with some success, and he’s ridden that success,” Strom said. “His confidence is high, and I think that’s the biggest thing.”

Strom, 74, has been a coach for over 30 years. He spent six seasons as a big-league pitcher, making exactly 100 appearances. He believes successful athletes must have two traits above all others: They have to be able to make adjustments, and they have to be competitive.

Ginkel possesses both, Strom said. If he didn’t, Ginkel wouldn’t have made it back to the majors after being sent down multiple times.

“It’s a lot easier to get here than it is to stay here.” Strom said. “Kevin’s established himself a little bit right now, so I’m really happy for him. We’re counting on him.”

Ginkel joined the Diamondbacks as a 22nd-round draft pick in 2016. It was the third year in a row he’d been selected; Strom wasn’t the only one intrigued by his arm.

Ginkel was part of Jay Johnson’s late recruiting wave in 2015 and ended up playing an integral role for the ’16 team that came within a hit of winning the College World Series.

Ginkel nearly pitched a perfect game vs. ASU. He closed and started on the same day when Arizona swept Louisiana-Lafayette to survive a draining regional in the Bayou. He started what could have been the clinching game in the CWS vs. Coastal Carolina, leaving with the scored tied, 2-2, after striking out 10 batters in seven innings.

I can’t say for certain that Ginkel had thought much about any of that before we chatted last week; fighting for your career doesn’t leave much time for reminiscing.

But if he needs to dig deeper into the well of character-building experiences, Ginkel can look back at the 2016 Wildcats. They were picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12 that year and almost won the whole thing. That’s basically the equivalent of being a 22nd-round pick in a draft that no longer has that many rounds.

“We had so much adversity that we had to go through as a team that year,” Ginkel said. “We weren’t handed anything. No one really gave us a chance. We just went out and played our brand of baseball.”

That’s essentially the approach Ginkel has taken during his breakout season. He defined that all-important mindset change as “just going out there with the mentality that I’m going to be aggressive, and I’m going to live and die by that.”

Has there been any self-doubt along the way?

“Yeah, no question,” Ginkel said. “But I think that has allowed me to be in the position that I’m in now.”

It has allowed him to move past outings like Sept. 25 vs. the Yankees, his lone loss of the season, the performance that led to search-engine ostracization.

“I know I’ve pitched really well this year,” Ginkel told me. “I’m not gonna let one outing affect my season. I’ve had those blunders before. It’s not anything new to me.”

Ginkel pitched a hitless inning that night.