Scott Kazmir has seen his career go from being on top in 2008 when he was selected to his second All-Star game and considered the ace of  the Rays to the bottom this season when he was given one start to show what he had. He allowed 5 runs in 1.2 innings before he was sent home in attempts he could regain his pre 2009 form.

After working with old coaches and reviewing seasons worth of video, Kazmir took his rehab road back to extended Spring Training where he continued to work on his mechanics. Last week, the Angels decided to start the 30-day clock as Kazmir  and he was sent to Triple-A.  Today, he made his first start which was well, bad. Real bad. After a perfect first inning, Kazmir ran into tons of trouble as he was unable to get out of the second inning. His final line was two hits, four walks, one hit batter, three strikeouts all while giving up six runs in 1 2/3 innings.

“There is such a small margin for error on how I’m throwing the baseball to get it over the plate,” Kazmir said. “A couple of good fastballs in the first inning hit my spot. As the game went on, it was getting more and more out of sync.”

The Angels must pay Kazmir whether he throws another pitch in the big leagues or not, so they’re expected to give him a full month to right himself. If Kazmir shows no progress, he will be released.

Kazmir’s fastball was clocked between 84 and 90 mph Tuesday, has lost his confidence, his command, his good fastball and his sharp slider. But he continues to hold out hope that he can right the ship before it’s to late.“I feel good,” he said. “My arm feels strong. I just have some things I’m trying to iron out. I’m not consistent, that’s for sure. It’s something where I’m just going to keep at it and keep working.”

“There is such a small margin for error on how I’m throwing the baseball to get it over the plate,” Kazmir said. “A couple of good fastballs in the first inning hit my spot. As the game went on, it was getting more and more out of sync.”

Information from the LA Times’ Mike DiGiovanna was used in this article.

Image taken from under the Creative Common License.