PORT ANGELES — If not for a rise in velocity and a college teammate’s Tommy John surgery, Lefties starting pitcher Wyatt Haccou might never have had the chance to take the mound at Civic Field.
Entering his junior season last fall at Biola University in the Southern California city of La Mirada, Haccou was at a crossroads.
The right-hander’s stuff wasn’t good enough to impress his college coaches at the time. And fall is when many West Coast League teams begin to reach out to schools searching for prospective players.
“I have a crazy story,” Haccou said. “Originally, I wasn’t going to play summer ball because my coach didn’t think I was good enough to play summer ball and nobody really saw what I had when I first joined the team.
“I was only throwing my fastball in the low 80s [MPH]. So they didn’t have me going to a league at first. And then during the fall I was throwing 87-89 and mowing people down. And I had a teammate down there who was going to come up here [to Port Angeles] and pitch get injured and have to have Tommy John surgery.”
“Wyatt was another hidden gem for us,” Lefties manager Zach Miller said. “Down at Biola they said he didn’t come in looking too sharp and wasn’t on their radar. They knew of him and he played a little first base in community college but they didn’t know how good of a starter he could be. He went from 82 MPH in the fall to 88, 89 in his last outing of the spring.”
A roster spot opened up for Haccou with his teammate’s injury, but he fully earned a summer’s worth of baseball with the Lefties with strong outings for Biola during fall ball and during the team’s spring season.
“I earned a starting spot there,” Haccou said. He appeared in 15 games, starting 13, and went 8-4 in 69.1 innings pitched. His ERA was a bit high at 5.19, but he displayed an ability to avoid walking batters, giving up just 24 free passes.
He’s kept the walks down again this summer, giving up just eight freebies in 37.1 innings pitched for Port Angeles.
“He’s come here and done the same thing,” Miller said. He’s hitting spots at the knees, he’s low in the zone and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes up high. He can throw three pitches for strikes and keep hitters off balance.”
Haccou is 4-3 in seven appearances, all starts, with a 3.37 ERA and 32 strikeouts through the All-Star break.
He’s tied with fellow starter Nick Bonniksen for the team lead in wins and is tied for second overall in the WCL’s wins lead with 12 other pitchers.
Haccou picked up Port Angeles’ first-ever WCL win, a 5-3 triumph over Kelowna back in June, and also took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning in a 10-strikeout win over Walla Walla.
Haccou said his approach to hitters is unlike most pitchers.
“I’m a different pitcher,” Haccou said. “I like to throw offspeed a lot in fastball counts so they think fastball, fastball, fastball and then they just miss barrel [hitting the ball on the sweet spot on a bat].”
And his delivery is something for fans to behold while also bewildering opposition hitters.
“He switches up his rhythm,” Miler said. “He’s kind of like [MLB pitcher] Johnny Cueto and does a long hold at the knee and then sometimes he’ll do a quicker slide out of his windup and it throws hitters off. And he’s a smart pitcher, he knows what will work for him in different counts.
“That’s what keeps getting him deep into games. He’s able to spot well and keep his pitch count low.”
Miller also said Haccou, one of the elder Lefties, keeps it light when he’s not pitching.
“He’s actually more of a dugout catalyst for our guys,” Miller said when asked about Haccou’s personality. “He keeps them loose in the dugout when he’s not starting and when he is starting it’s game on. He’s focused.”
Haccou said he has established out pitches like a two-seam fastball, a four-seam fastball and a changeup. He also has a sinker, “my double-play ball,” he said.
But he’s looking to develop a “strikeout pitch” and is focusing on his slider this summer on the advice of his college coaches.
“My slider originally hasn’t moved that much, it just spins. Right now I’m trying to get that sharp spin and get that outside corner and get swings and misses,” Haccou said.
And he’s enjoying the warm reception from Lefties fans this summer.
“We’ve never really had fans come out at any school I’ve attended, so its awesome to see the house get full here and to have all the kids come out for autographs,” Haccou said. “That’s something I’ll probably never forget about the experience up here.”
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
Cassidy Callaham/Port Angeles Lefties Port Angeles starter Wyatt Haccou has been a solid presence on the mound and in the dugout for the Lefties this summer.
