Rangers’ Chi Chi Gonzalez finding Chakra a breath at a time

When it’s all going right for Chi Chi Gonzalez on the mound these days, it feels to him like he’s blowing the ball to home plate with a soft breath of air.

OK, not to get too metaphysical on you, but Gonzalez, the Texas Rangers’ starter-in-waiting for the past two seasons, has found a new level of zen in the middle of the diamond.

Meditation classes and, to some extent, yoga workouts, have helped the right-hander zero in his focus from pitch to pitch by making all the other distractions disappear with a deep breath.

Sure, it’s not as simple as that, and of course no method is perfect, but through two spring starts, Gonzalez’s technique is working.

He held the Milwaukee Brewers to a run on three hits and struck out three in three innings Saturday at Maryvale Baseball Ballpark. The lone run scored with two outs in the third on a triple off the bat of Jonathan Villar. It was a fastball that cut back over the plate toward the left-hitting Villar. It’s about the only mistake Gonzalez has made over five combined innings in two spring outings.

“I just wanted to take off from that last outing, pound the zone, get them in swing mode so I could start using all my other pitches,” said Gonzalez, who consistently stayed ahead of hitters for the second consecutive start. It has allowed him to put hitters on the defensive.

“Because I was getting ahead it made [my curveball and changeup] so much better,” he said. The one time he fell behind, Villar jumped on the fastball.

“Perfect pitch for lefties, a little cutter hanging over the middle. He turned and burned on me,” Gonzalez said.

Otherwise, Gonzalez kept his pitching Chakra in check by employing a breathing method encouraged by the Rangers’ meditation instructor in Surprise.

At her urging, Gonzalez demonstrated his pitching mechanics. Together, they devised a breathing technique. Gonzalez takes a deep breath as he begins his wind up and holds it as he balances on his back foot before pushing off for his delivery.

As he delivers the ball he exhales, sort of, in a Buddhist sense, sending the ball toward the catcher with all of his energy — physical and mental — behind it.

The idea, he said, is to “have everything behind the ball.”

“Take care of the ball,” said Gonzalez, who gazed at a ball in his hand to give the spiritual idea a visual aid. “That’s our livelihood so you want to put everything you’ve got behind it.”

Gonzalez tried it first playing catch, then during a live batting practice session. And finally into his spring games.

“You’re thinking about your breathing and controlling your emotions, it gets you thinking less about the other stuff you can’t control.,” he said. “So I’ve been taking that out there [on the field], you’re just simplifying. You know what you need to do. You know how to throw a fastball. You know how to throw a breaking ball. Now it’s just time to be able to execute.”

It’s been a roundabout way for Gonzalez to accomplish what coaches were asking him to do three seasons ago: slow down his heart rate on the mound. Easier coached than executed, however, and with experience, both good and bad at the major league level, Gonzalez looks more comfortable than ever.

Manager Jeff Banister notices a difference.

“You don’t see the agitation in between pitches,” Banister said. “He’s a lot more methodical in what he does. He gets the ball back, gets on the mound and sort of processes the situation, goes through a little breathing [routine] there, gets the sign and makes his pitch.”

Up next

vs. Cubs, 2:05 p.m. Sunday, Surprise Stadium, FSSW

Rangers probable pitchers: RHP Nick Martinez, LHP Adam Loewen, LHP Wesley Wright, RHP Brady Dragmire, RHP Anthony Bass, LHP Dario Alvarez.

Cubs probable pitchers: LHP Jon Lester, RHP Wade Davis, RHP Koji Uehara, RHP Justin Grimm, RHP Alec Mills, LHP Caleb Smith

This story was originally published March 4, 2017 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Rangers’ Chi Chi Gonzalez finding Chakra a breath at a time."