9 innings with Royals RHP prospect Dusty Odenbach

* I am going to start adding this feature to these 9 inning interviews….a great suggestion from one of our friends to the site…I am also going to go back and edit these in to older 9 innings as I have time

Player: Dusty Odenbach
2010 Team: Burlington Bees
2011 Expectation: Wilmington bullpen

Royals 8th round pick 2009 out of UCONN

Opening day age- 23

Dusty

Thank you for taking the time to sit down for this 9 innings interview with pinetarpress.com

1st inning- You are from upstate New York….how important were sports to you growing up and what were some of your interests besides baseball?

sports have always played a huge part in my life. Being from up north hockey is pretty big during the winter so i played 10 years of hockey during the winter and baseball in the summer. It was always a great change of pace for me because I really enjoyed playing both.

2nd inning- You had a very goof high school career as a hitter and a pitcher….What were your options after high school besides UCONN and did anyone want you as a 2 way player?

Coming out of hs i personally thought I was a better hitter but UCONN wanted me to just focus on pitching because doing both was quite a load in college. I had some offers from smaller D1 schools and some D3 schools to do both. Im glad though I went to UCONN and just pitched because doing just one is hard enough.

3rd inning- You worked out at a academy called MBS Mind-Body-Soul what did you take away from your work there?

MBS was a program I enrolled during HS. It was ran by a guy named RD Long who spent some time in the minor leagues. I was able to train during the winter (which is miserable in Rochester) in an indoor complex which was very fortunate for considering the outside conditions. It helped my development as high schooler because RD put us through a weight and running program.

4th inning- One would think that UCONN would be a tough place to recruit stellar baseball talent. But, in the last 3 years they have produced you, 1st rounder from the Rangers Mike Olt and 2 2011 potential first rounders in George Springer and Matt Barnes…what is it about UCONN that has made it such a solid program?

Yes notoriously UCONN is a tough place get recruits due to the poor weather during the spring. In the past any highly recruited player in the Northeast would probably try and go down south for college but our head coach Jim Penders is doing a phenomenal good keeping those recruits to stay up north. We have also been getting a lot of Cali players to come play in the northeast. Since my junior and on UCONN has been producing a lot of pro draft picks which is only going to continue to help in the recruitng process.

5th inning- At UCONN you became a very successful reliever…the Royals have used you as a reliever and as a starter. How would you describe the difference in your game pitching as a reliever or as a starter?

Being a starter and coming out of the pen I have learned is night and day in a physical and mental state. Starting you have to be conditioned to throw around 100 pitches and try to go at least 5 innings. Its tough to start and not burn yourself out after a few innings I learned. Coming out of the pen your usually throwing max 3 innings and giving it all you got in that short span your on the mound. I personally like coming out of the pen and giving it all I have for a few innings.

6th inning- Give us a quick scouting report on yourself (pitches, where does your fastball max out at and where does it sit)

On a normal night i throw 88-92. My curveball is 78-81. My top velocity I have ever thrown is 94 during college.

7th inning- When I saw you at Burlington in late August you really seemed to be a popular guys with the fan base. It had to be a tough season for the Bees last year so my question is what did you do to stay positive?

Yes last year was very very tough to stay positive. We had a hard time winning ball games which can take a toll on anyone. We had a good group of guys though which made things a little easier dealing with the losing.

8th inning- What have you been doing this off season and what are your goals for 2011?

I have been lifting 5 days a week and throwing 3 days a week. It feels good to start getting back into the swing of things. i was starting to get bored without baseball believe it or not. My goal this year to make the Wilmington squad out of spring training.

9th inning- The relationship between a pitcher and a catcher is my favorite relationship in sports. Can you tell me what are some things you look for in a solid relationship with your battery mate?

When it comes to pitcher catcher I like a catcher that knows how to joke with me at the appropriately time. Ben Theriot who I played with this year was very good at that if I was ever feeling tense he always knew when to crack a joke to loosen me up.

extra innings- Ok, this is your ultimate meal…You can choose one entree, two sides, one drink, and one dessert…what do you order?

my ultimate meal is swedish meatball over rice with a salad and croutons. A cold blue gatorade and for dessert key lime pie.

Thank you so much and we look forward to keeping tabs on you in our daily diamond in the rough reports this season

Greg Schaum

I hope that helped Greg and Im very impressed about the stuff you knew about me

Thanks

Dusty