Cuffman

ALTOONA— Jake Cuffman has found his way to Altoona — but not on the path he had hoped to take.

The Butler graduate and Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect has been sent to the club's Class AA affiliate to work out his mechanical problems with Curve pitching coach Ray Searage.

"Ray is an outstanding coach when it comes to pitching mechanics,"said Brian Graham, the Pirates' senior director of player development. "We want Jake to spend as much time with him as necessary, get straightened out and get back on the mound again.

"Jake has tremendous arm strength. He's got a good, live arm, but just hasn't shown any progress in the situation he has been."

Only 22, Cuffman is in his fifth year in the organization. He struggled at Class AHickory last year, going 0-3 with a 6.75 earned run average, 35 strikeouts and 26 walks in 44 innings.

But those struggles were nothing compared to this year.

Cuffman appeared in nine games for the Crawdads and pitched 7Z\c innings. He surrendered 13 hits, walked 14 batters, hit four others, allowed two home runs and compiled an ERAof 24.55.

"Bad's not the word for it,"the right-hander said. "I was beyond horrible. I was convinced there was something wrong with my arm, my shoulder ... some type of injury."

Cuffman wanted a MRIdone on his right shoulder. Graham and Jon Mercurio, who originally scouted Cuffman, agreed. The procedure was done in early May and no physical problems were detected.

"There was a little tenderness there, so we shut him down for a month,"Graham said.

Cuffman returned to the mound for Hickory recently and retired the first two batters he faced. A walk, a single and a hit batsman loaded the bases before a single scored one run and a grand slam home run followed.

"That's how it's been going,":Cuffman said. "I lost all my confidence. When you're feeling like that and you can't throw strikes, it feels like the whole world is collapsing on you."

Called to the manager's office a week ago, Cuffman feared the worst.

"I thought I was gonna get released,"he admitted. "But they told me I was going to Altoona to work with Coach Searage.

"What (Searage) has done is start me all over in how to throw a baseball. We scrapped everything. My mechanics, arm slot, release point — it's all different. It's like learning how to walk again."

How long Cuffman stays in Altoona will be determined by the progress he makes working with Searage. He is not on the Curve's active roster or any roster in the farm system right now.

"We'll keep him there as long as it takes,"Graham said. "I'm sure he'll be on the mound again before this season is over."

While his overall numbers haven't been impressive — 130 strikeouts and 90 walks with an ERAhovering near 5.00 in 136X\c innings over five years, Cuffman insists he has a major league arm.

The secret is finding a way to demonstrate it on a consistent basis.

"Numbers don't mean anything, really,"Cuffman said. "When I'm throwing the ball to my capability, I can pitch anywhere — Double-A, Triple-A, the majors, it doesn't matter where — and everybody knows that.

"It's just a matter of getting it out of me. When I get it all figured out, I'll be pitching in the big leagues."