ST. LOUIS - The Phillies learned more about Kyle Drabek, their righthanded prodigy, yesterday.
He's good at Frisbee.
He's better after long rain delays.
Drabek waited through a rain delay of more than four hours before appearing in the Futures Game at Busch Stadium. He responded with the crispest performance of the 17 highly regarded pitchers who appeared in the game matching top prospects.
"I had a blast," Drabek said. "It was a great experience."
Drabek needed only 10 pitches in a perfect inning for Team USA, which lost, 7-5, to the World team. Drabek's outs included a strikeout of Luis Durango, a career .335 hitter with two minor-league batting titles from the San Diego organization, and a routine fly ball by Alcides Escobar, Milwaukee's highly regarded triple-A shortstop.
With that, the Kyle Drabek train gathered more momentum.
"Any time a kid plays in a game like this and is able to evaluate himself against the best players in the minors, it's a tremendous confidence builder," said Chuck LaMar, the Phillies' assistant general manager for player development and scouting.
Phillies lefthander Yohan Flande also pitched and allowed two singles in a scoreless inning for the World team. Flande, whose twisting delivery is reminiscent of what former major-leaguer Carlos Perez used, threw strikes. He had an 0-2 count on three of the five hitters he faced.
Flande, 23, was in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League at this time a year ago. He has rocketed to prominence this season, recently joining Drabek in the rotation at double-A Reading.
The similarities stop there. Flande is strikingly raw; Drabek inches closer to the majors with every appearance.
He is 9-1 with a 2.58 ERA in 1081/3 innings overall in a season that started with single-A Clearwater. Drabek, 21, has fared well against the better hitters of the double-A Eastern League, going 5-0 with a 2.70 ERA in seven starts.
Suddenly, the major leagues come into view.
"When you're in double A, that's definitely in the back of everyone's minds," Drabek said. "But you've got to put that away and make sure you go out and compete so that you have a chance to go up there."
This performance offered a glimpse into Drabek's rapid development as a person as much as a pitcher. He stayed under control in a trying situation.
To stay calm during the lengthy delay, Drabek went into the outfield with fellow Team USA pitchers Brad Lincoln and Matt Latos to throw the Frisbee. Drabek's long running catches entertained the crowd and reinforced LaMar's high praise of his athletic skills.
When Drabek got into the game, he avoided the trap that caught several other pitchers. Rather than overthrow in an attempt to light up the radar guns used by the pack of scouts in attendance, Drabek pitched his usual style. He showed good command of the fastball, throwing seven strikes.
"I was just glad that I didn't get too amped up and throw the ball all over the place," Drabek said.
Catcher Tyler Flowers, of the Chicago White Sox organization, said he could tell after only a few pitches that Drabek had exceptional command of his fastball.
"It all starts there," Flowers said. "Everything after that was a plus."
LaMar said "all the pieces are there" for Drabek to be a quality major-league pitcher. LaMar speaks from a unique perspective. He worked with Pittsburgh when Drabek's father, Doug, pitched the Pirates into the playoffs in the 1990s and won one Cy Young Award. This performance added to LaMar's belief that the son is cut from the same cloth as the father.
