Hungry Loaiza is gobbling up hitters

Sporting News, The, May 5, 2003 by Ken Rosenthal

Several baseball people react to Esteban Loaiza's 5-0 start with contempt, dismissing the White Sox righthander as "a teaser." Loaiza, 31, always has had great stuff, even great Aprils. But as one executive says, "Success has always been his biggest enemy."

Maybe now that will change.

After earning $6.05 million with the Blue Jays last season, Loaiza lingered as a free agent until January 24. Spurning the Expos and Tigers, he signed a nonroster deal with the Sox, knowing he would need to make the team to receive his $500,000 salary.

"He came into camp hungry," says Buck Martinez, Loaiza's former manager with the Blue Jays. "We never could keep him focused."

White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper says he was mystified that Loaiza allowed 192 hits in 151 1/3 innings last season. Loaiza needed to vary his repertoire and waste pitches when ahead in the count. Cooper persuaded him to make greater use of his changeup and cut fastball.

All five of Loaiza's victories were against relatively light-hitting clubs--the Royale, Orioles, Tigers (twice) and Twins. He entered the season with a 3.23 ERA in April and a 5.11 ERA in other months. But he claims to be a new pitcher, saying, "I'm just trying to hit my spots, and I've been successful doing it, keeping the ball low, throwing lots of strikes."

Will it last? Martinez recalls Loaiza taking a half-hearted approach to conditioning while nursing a sore ankle in Toronto. But after pitching 8 1/3 innings in Baltimore last week, Loaiza mounted an exercise bike for a postgame workout. He's on a journey: from teaser to winner.