Veteran Roark 'on a mission' to evolve

BRADENTON, Fla. -- For years, Tanner Roark did things one way and it worked.

Roark became a model of consistency, pitching 180-plus innings in four of his first five full seasons with the Nationals, peaking at 210 in 2016. That’s why the Blue Jays handed Roark a two-year, $24 million deal at age 33, projecting him as a rock-steady veteran toward the back end of their rotation as they made the leap from rebuilding to competing.

Then, 2020 happened. Roark pitched to a 6.80 ERA over 11 starts, and without a full 162 games to stretch his rubber arm across, he wasn’t himself. At this same time last spring, following his Grapefruit League debut, Roark said he wanted to be “great at what he’s good at.” A year later, instead of trying to squeeze more value out of those same old ways, Roark is trying to evolve.

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“These past three or four seasons, my stuff wasn’t cutting it. If I stayed there, I’d just keep going down. Why not try new things?” Roark said Thursday after throwing three shutout innings against the Tigers. “It could work, it could not, but at least you tried it. Everything is out on the table and why not try new things? I don’t know everything, so I’m going to try to learn as much as I can and watch guys who are older than me and still in the game, still throwing hard.”

This starts with how Roark generates his power. He’s never been a flamethrower, sitting in the 90-92 mph range for most of his career, but at that velocity, you can’t afford a dip. Roark described his offseason changes in his usual colorful way.

“I was trying to feel more hinging on my back hip and back leg,” Roark said. “For a long time, I’ve thrown uniquely, but I haven’t used my backside as much as I should and my hips as much as I should. That’s what I focused on all offseason: trying to hinge and get into my glutes. I’ve got a big one, so I might as well use it.”

In the past, Roark felt like he was using his lead leg to drive his body toward home plate instead of using his back leg. In simpler terms, his body was being pulled toward the hitter instead of pushed, which limited the power his lower body was generating.

By using his backside more, Roark will be leaning on bigger, stronger muscles instead of relying on his quads, like he was before. Toronto doesn’t need Roark to be its No. 2 behind Hyun Jin Ryu by any means, but if Roark can keep the No. 5 job locked down with consistent innings, it will free things up for his manager to use the club’s younger multi-inning arms elsewhere.

“[Roark] is on a mission. He’s on a mission to prove what he can do,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “He’s always been good, and he struggled last year, so he’s on a mission. You can tell by the way he looks and how hard he worked in the offseason.”

Even when Roark is feeling fresh and trying new things, though, he’s got that old-school mentality that only comes with throwing 1,148 Major League innings.

After Roark pitched a scoreless first inning Thursday, Toronto scored four runs in the bottom half of the frame. Roark bolted back out to the mound and retired the Tigers in order with a strikeout, a flyout and a strikeout.

“That’s the name of the game. Especially with a 4-0 lead after the first inning. Go in there, get on the bump and get those guys out as fast as possible so we can stay hot and keep the opposing starting pitcher tired,” Roark said. “I’ve been on the other end of that, and it’s not fun.”

Friday's game was still nearly three weeks away from any of this counting, but Roark was thinking about the broader flow of the game and, ultimately, a win. That plays right into his sweet spot, too. Now, more than ever, Roark knows he needs to stay around the edges of the plate and force hitters to get themselves out.

Arm speed is a key to that. With Roark’s fastball is sitting in the low 90s last season, his slider sat near 84 mph, curveball near 73 mph and changeup near 81 mph. He’s not blowing these pitches past anyone, but if he can create that split second of deception with his arm speed, another small edge is created.

Maybe this works, maybe it doesn’t. That’s exactly how Roark is approaching it: showing an openness to these new ideas he might not have needed before.