James Naile Making His Mark in Nashville

by Bill Craig / A’s Farm Nashville Correspondent

Despite missing a couple months of action last season due to an oblique injury, right-hander James Naile came out strong this season. The 25-year-old tossed 17 2/3 scoreless innings over his first three starts to notch three straight wins for Nashville, and his 2.91 ERA is currently good for sixth best in the Pacific Coast League.

Naile underwent Tommy John surgery after his sophomore season at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. But the Missouri native came back better than ever and put together a strong senior season that impressed the A’s, who took him in the 20th round of the 2015 draft.

Naile has since ascended through every level of the organization. He’s shown himself to be totally healthy this year and has been a workhorse in the Nashville rotation, throwing more innings than any other hurler in the A’s system.

While Naile may not be the kind of guy who puts up gaudy strikeout numbers, he’s demonstrated great control throughout his career and has issued just 12 walks over 52 2/3 frames this season. Historically, he’s also been loath to give up the long ball and has surrendered just two home runs so far this season for the Sounds.

We took the opportunity to talk with Naile in Nashville just a few days after his ninth start of the season, during which he allowed just one earned run in seven innings of work against Oklahoma City but ended up suffering the hard-luck loss for the Sounds.

 

AF:  You got off to an incredible start this season. What do you think accounted for your early success, especially since you missed so much time last year?

JN:  I think just being around a great group of guys every day is helping. You get to see some veterans, some guys that have been in the big leagues, and learn from them and pick their brains the best you can. Then just simply going out there and executing, and that’s been the difference between years past and this year. I think, this year, I’m executing at a higher level. It’s not like I’ve changed anything. I’m not really throwing any different pitches. I’m just working on fine-tuning everything and going out and competing.

AF:  Can you tell me a little bit about your repertoire and what you’re working with out there?

JN:  Sure, I throw a four-seamed fastball, a one-seamed fastball, which is basically a sinker – it’s kind of my bread and butter and probably what helped me get to this level. I throw kind of a hard curve that gets a little slider-shaped at times – it’s a little slurvy. Then, I just have your standard two-seam changeup.

AF:  You’ve pitched at every level in the system now. What’s different about Triple-A, the competition here, and the way you have to approach the hitters at this level?

JN:  I think, with each level, the hitters get better, but the pitchers get better as well. I think just taking what you’ve learned from the other levels and the mistakes – that’s really the only difference is you can’t make as many mistakes here. Everybody is good here, one through nine, so you’ve really got to focus in and stayed focused through the entire game. You can’t take a batter off because anybody can hurt you at this level. I would say that’s really the biggest difference is focusing on every batter and every pitch from one through nine.

AF:  You mentioned some of the veterans you’ve had on the team this season. You’ve definitely had a lot of guys with some real big-league experience come through your pitching staff this year. What’s it like to have those kinds of veterans around and is there anything that you’ve been able to learn from them?

JN:  I’ve been around a lot of good players on this team. Some of them pitch similar to how I do. Kendall Graveman throws a two-seam fastball, and he relies a lot on his fastball, and he throws a cutter. I didn’t mention my cutter earlier, but I throw a cutter as well.  I’m able to watch Kendall pitch and compete with his fastball. Chris Bassitt really works with me on scouting out hitters. Trevor Cahill talked to me about throwing my changeup, and Brett Anderson was talking to me about the big leagues in general. Each of those veteran guys that have a bit of big league time has definitely been awesome in helping me learn the ropes a little bit.

AF:  Were there any pitchers you admired growing up that you’ve maybe tried to model yourself after?

JN:  I grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fan. They had a lot of good right-handers come through with Matt Morris, Chris Carpenter and some of those older guys. I loved Tim Hudson. I kind of model my delivery after him just a little bit. So, there definitely are some influences. I got a great high school baseball coach, Michael Minter, that really helped me and taught me to throw your basic fastball, curveball and changeup. My pitching coach in college, Josh Hopper, deserves so much credit because he taught me to compete, work with what I got, and brought the best out of me. So, there have been a lot of people along the way.

AF:  You’re also known for your defensive ability in the field and you even won a Gold Glove a couple of years ago. Is that something that you’ve spend a lot of time working on or is it something that just comes naturally to you?

JN:  It’s something I take pride in but, at the same time, there are a lot of good fielding pitchers out there. I still don’t know how I won that award. You don’t go out there and try to make Gold Glove plays. You just field the comebackers and flip them over to first. You take every out you can, and that’s how I’ve been taught. I grew up playing a lot of infield, so I guess I take that with me out there.

AF:  A lot of people think of First Tennessee Park as a pitcher’s park. How do you feel about pitching here?

JN:  Absolutely, it’s a great place to call home. We’ve got some good outfielders, the gaps are spacious, so you can get at hitters and challenge people here. It plays to a pitcher’s advantage but, at the same time, you’ve got to keep the ball down and try to get ground balls.

AF:  Speaking of calling places home, I know you’re from Missouri, which isn’t too far from Nashville. Had you spent much time here before and what do you think of life here in Nashville now?

JN:  Over the years, growing up, we came to Nashville quite a bit playing summer ball tournaments here, and I’ve got a lot of friends here. It has been great. I got some friends that went to college around here. On my way to Birmingham, where I went to college, I had to pass through Nashville. So, I’ve been here a lot over the years. I really love Nashville. The city as a whole is a lot of fun and we get great crowds here. It’s an awesome place to play.

AF:  When you’re not playing baseball, what do you like to do when you’re back home in Missouri in the offseason?

JN:  There’s a lot of golf, hanging out with friends, just your standard life. I like to hunt and fish. I grew up doing that with my dad and older brother. So, just being outside and enjoying the outdoors.

AF:  So, do you have any particular goals or anything you’d like to try to accomplish during the course of this season?

JN:  Everybody’s dream in Triple-A is to get to the big leagues, so that’s in my head and what I’m striving for every day. I’m working on doing what it takes to earn my opportunity to get up there. Otherwise, I’m trying to go out there and complete, and do the best I can and let the cards fall where they may.

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