Three thousand, three hundred and twenty-four miles.
That’s how far Monroe native and current minor-league left-handed pitcher Tyler Ihrig has traveled — not counting road trips — between homes in the Chicago Cubs organization this spring and summer in his role of on-call emergency fill-in.
If there’s an injury, or players get called up or sent down unexpectedly and there’s a need for an arm — especially a left-handed one — the organization calls Ihrig.
Since beginning the season with Lo-A South Bend (Ind.) on April 17, Ihrig has made one spot start with Triple-A Iowa, spent two weeks with Double-A Tennessee, three weeks with Hi-A Myrtle Beach (S.C.) and two weeks back in South Bend before returning to Myrtle Beach on Aug. 2.
“It’s been good, just traveling around playing baseball,” said Ihrig, who has a record of 3-3 and a 3.20 earned-run average in 24 appearances in 2015. “I’ve met a lot of good people along the way and have gotten opinions from a lot of different pitching coaches. I go around wherever they need someone to pitch. Whether it’s a spot start or relief work, I just fill in the gaps.”
In just his third season of professional baseball, Ihrig has become a known quantity for the organization, someone they can rely on to get outs at different levels of the minor leagues.
“He’s creating value for himself within the organization,” said Myrtle Beach manager Mark Johnson, who spent eight seasons as a catcher in the major leagues, primarily with the Chicago White Sox. “When you get out high-level players it says something. It’s one thing to get Lo-A ball guys out with a plus changeup, when you get more experienced guys who have seen that stuff before, it shows his feel for pitching. That’s what Tyler is — a feel pitcher who has ability to miss bats. He pitches.”
Never a standout at Monroe High School, Ihrig found his way to the College of Marin, a junior college program in Northern California. Ihrig became the Mariners’ closer as a sophomore for the Mariners, racking up 18 saves to go along with a 1.58 ERA. He was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2013 amateur draft that summer.
“Tyler’s a perfect example of the fact that you don’t have to throw 95 to get pro hitters out,” Johnson said. “Tyler would be the first one to tell you that if he breaks 85, he’s done something special. He can throw his fastball, changeup and curveball hard or soft, throttling all three pitches. He misses bats and gets weak contact, which is the name of the game.”
After finishing the 2014 season at Lo-A, Ihrig expected to be back there or move up to Hi-A to begin the 2015 campaign. But in April, Ihrig said he was approached by the organization with the request that he be a floater of sorts, someone that could move around to different affiliates as pitchers were needed.
“They told me that they trusted me to throw at any level, that I threw a lot of strikes and got the job done,” he said.
“He’s basically been on call since the first day of the season,” Johnson added. “There might be one or two guys out of 150 in the organization that do that.”
It’s also a select few Single-A pitchers in each organization that can get Double-A and Triple-A hitters out effectively.
Ihrig said he noticed some pretty distinct differences between hitters at both levels of Single-A ball and at the upper levels.
“I’ve thrown changeups at (Single-A) guys’ necks and they swung and missed,” he said. “At Double-A and Triple-A, I’ve thrown them one inch off the plate and guys will take it on a full count.”
Ihrig’s lone appearance at Triple-A, for the I-Cubs on May 12, resulted in a loss for Iowa but an invaluable experience for the developing pitcher.
“I was in South Bend and they told me I was going to Triple-A, but I didn’t know what I was doing when I got there,” he said. “I got there and went in the clubhouse and the coaches told me to go rest at the hotel for an hour or two. They called me at the hotel and told me I was starting.”
His biggest concern wasn’t about facing hitters a sprained ankle away from the major leagues after having previously only faced Lo-A opposition to that point, but whether or not he’d have to step in the batter’s box himself.
“Thankfully we played an American League team and I didn’t have to hit, but being around those guys up there was a good memory, and it was a good feeling to be able to get guys out at that level. I learned a lot from those five innings,” Ihrig said.
In those five innings, he allowed five hits and two earned runs, walking two and striking out three.
Ihrig is living with a host family in Myrtle Beach, but takes one large suitcase with virtually all of his belongings with him on the road, in addition to his gear bag, in case he gets a phone call to switch locales during a road trip.
Though his situation isn’t without its drawbacks — his parents haven’t been able to see him pitch this year, and his girlfriend has done so only once — the setup has served to make the typically dull routine of a minor league baseball season that much more interesting.
“One day I’m here, one day I’m off somewhere else,” he said. “It’s always something exciting.”
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