The following article was published in the Topeka Capital-Journal on August 11, 2018 – you can read it here.
The Kansas City Royals’ ongoing rebuilding process may have recently turned up another building block in starting pitcher Heath Fillmyer.
A virtual unknown just a few weeks ago, Fillmyer is quickly proving what he can do when given an opportunity.
And that is after he made a name for himself before even setting foot on a big league field.
Fillmyer put together a new career best Wednesday by shutting out the National League’s best team for seven innings. A few more outings like that victory over the Chicago Cubs will endear him to Royals fans in the same way he handled his call to the major leagues back in June.
Fillmyer made news for the way he informed his parents of his promotion to the big leagues. In Reno for a game with the Omaha Storm Chasers, Fillmyer was informed he would be promoted to the Royals late in the evening. Calling from the Pacific Time Zone to his parents in the Eastern Time Zone, however, was a problem. When he couldn’t awaken them in New Jersey to give them the good news, and to tell them to start making travel arrangements to see his debut, he sought help.
He called his girlfriend and had her go to his parents’ home, in the middle of the night, to wake them up. Apparently it wasn’t easy. The story of the young woman pounding on the door in the middle of the night brought Fillmyer a degree of notoriety before he put on a Royals’ uniform.
“When I went home for the All-Star break I saw a lot friends and family, people I grew up with, and they all got a kick out of it,” Fillmyer said. “They just said it’s typical of my family not to pick up the phone. It was funny and made it memorable for sure. It was something I’ll never forget.”
Fillmyer is making some more memories he’ll cherish, the best being the win over the Cubs. Injuries opened the door for him to step into the Royals starting rotation, and he’s making the most of the opportunity.
His four previous starts consisted of: 3 earned runs over 4.1 innings, 3 earned runs versus Boston on July 8; 1 earned run over 6.2 innings against Detroit on July 23; 3 earned runs over 5 innings at Yankee Stadium on July 28; a rain-shortened start at Minnesota in which he gave up 3 earned runs in 3 innings.
Each resulted in losses for the Royals. Until Wednesday, that is, when he throttled the National League’s best offense and picked up his first big league victory.
Having logged 37.1 innings in the major leagues, Fillmyer boasts an ERA of 3.13, a 1-1 record, and an impressive 1.286 combination of walks plus hits per innings pitched (WHIP).
“I’m grateful to get the opportunity to make those starts, and I just want to make the most of them. This is obviously the point that you want to be. You want to get these opportunities and you work for them. And when they come, you want to capitalize on them.”
Royals General Manager Dayton Moore has made numerous moves this year to convert veterans into prospects. Much has been made of the in-season trades of Kelvin Herrera and Mike Moustakas. Less attention was paid in January when Moore swapped veterans Ryan Buchter and Brandon Moss for Fillmyer and fellow pitcher Jesse Hahn of the Oakland A’s. Hahn had some big league experience in Oakland, so Fillmyer was the least-regarded of the four.
So no one expected the A’s fifth round pick in 2014 out of Mercer County Community College to dent the Royals rotation this year. His 5.75 ERA in a half season at Omaha didn’t help.
Yet here he is, throwing his hat in the ring for the Royals rotation of 2019 and beyond. Fillmyer joins Brad Keller, Burch Smith and the injured Eric Skoglund as rookies to start at least five games for Kansas City this year.
“It’s been a dream come true to be able to play the game you grew up admiring and to be at this level,” Fillmyer said. “It’s been humbling, but it’s also been great. I’ve been able to play against a lot of great players, and visit a lot of great ballparks. And hopefully the ride keeps going.”
The pitching-hungry Royals are kicking the tires on not just Fillmyer, Keller, Smith and Skoglund. The list of rookies trying to establish themselves in Kansas City includes Tim Hill, Jason Adam, Scott Barlow, Trevor Oaks, Glenn Sparkman and Eric Stout. One would expect the competition to be tense. But Fillmyer said the culture inside the clubhouse is uplifting.
“There’s just a lot of encouragement among us. There are a lot of great guys in here, and everybody is just rooting for each other. Everybody wants to have a piece of the success when it happens. When you have bad days, we try to pick each other up as best you can. It’s nice to be around guys like that.”