The 2014 baseball season marks the next step for Cleveland Indians' pitching prospect Dace Kime.
After pitching for Louisville on his way to being drafted in the third round by the Tribe, all in 2013, Kime gained some experience playing with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Single-A). He also went to two weeks of instructional ball and finished up his degree, graduating this past winter.
Now, Kime's focus is on getting ready for the regular season.
"Overall it was a really good experience for me based on a lot of the changes they wanted me to make to refine my mechanics," Kime said of his time in the instructional league. "Just tweaking them a little bit to make my delivery a little smoother, change my glove side a little bit and work on my direction toward the plate.
"What they're working on me with right now is driving toward the plate and keeping everything right there so I can have a little bit more control," he added. "It's really just about finding the feel for the zone, being able to attack hitters at the bottom of the zone."
Since late February, Kime has been in Goodyear, Ariz. where he arrived early for his first spring training as part of the Indians' organization.
Kime heads into the season working on becoming a solid starter, something he did briefly at the end of the 2013 college season after working as a reliever most of his time at Louisville, but prior to that, had not done since his time at Defiance.
"For the most part, in the past three or four years I've had to go into the season with the mindset of being a reliever, I haven't really had the mindset of going out and competing as a starter since high school," said Kime. "It kind of brings back a lot of memories and at the same time, I know this is what I've always wanted to do, it's the same thing I wanted to do since I was in college, and I feel like I'm finally in the role where I want to be. I'm living the dream, being a starter in professional baseball. There really isn't anything more I could ask for."
Before heading to Goodyear, Kime faced several unknowns given that it was going to be his first spring training which also led to several questions from family and friends, ones that he was not qualified to answer at that time.
"It was hard for me because I didn't know what to expect," Kime said of trying to answer people's questions before going through the experience. "Coming out here it was completely different. It was a little bit easier because my family took it easy on me, they told me they weren't going to come out to see me. Most people would say, 'oh my gosh ,I can't believe they're doing that,' but it was nice because I think it would have been more stress on me trying to figure out (travel arrangements) while also working on my pitching.
"For the most part (being at spring training) has just been really relaxed, really laid back. I came out here for early camp so I was out here before a lot of the other players and that was a big comfort thing for me. It got me used to being out here and it was just that little bit of edge that I had before everybody else got here that's making the difference right now."
Kime has been working mainly with the Carolina Mudcats (Single-A Advanced) during spring training, which is an indication that when camp breaks he'll join the Lake County Captains, the Indians Single-A team in Eastlake. Kime expects to find out for certain where he will report to at the end of the week.
He has also worked closely with Ruben Niebla, a former major league pitcher with the Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations, who is now a pitching coach within the Indians' player development system.
"I know he's really excited about the changes that I've been making," said Kime. "He and I have been on the same page with what I need to work on ever since I got here. I know he's really excited about that because he knows I'm the type of guy that isn't going to get frustrated if I fail, I'm just going to keep on working. That means a lot to me because that shows how much faith he has in me and I know that relays all the way up to the top."
Control issues led to a few walks in his first outing of the spring as Kime was still working on a lot of the little things, but the righty recently pitched three innings of two-hit baseball as he settled into the role and is ready for his next start of the spring.
"That was a big step forward for me, especially with the comfort level of everything I've been putting together and working on," Kime said of his recent start.
No matter where Kime ends up pitching at to open the season, it's just a matter of continuing to get comfortable with his mechanics and adjustments. As the comfort level rises to go with the confidence, everything else should fall into place as he looks to get his first full professional season and work his way up the organizational ladder.
"It's really about making the changes that they want me to make and refining those and getting comfortable with those," said Kime. "Once I get that, I know all the stats will come. I know I have good stuff and really all I need to do is put everything together and for the most part, it's all about comfort level right now. After that, the only way to get better is through repetition."
"I'm feeling healthy, my arm is feeling good, I'm getting stretched out. My arm hasn't felt this good after starts since probably high school."