The question is not, What has gotten into Brett Tomko? It’s what hasn’t gotten into him: the worry, the panic, the fear of failure.
But the Giants pitcher can thank Los Angeles-based sports psychologist Alan Jaeger for helping turn his season around, and just in time.
Since their first conversation, Tomko has built a 4-0 record with a 1.00 ERA over five starts, holding opposing hitters to a .160 average during that span. He hopes to continue his run of success Tuesday against the Houston Astros in the opener of a series crucial to both teams’ postseason hopes.
“I can overanalyze with the best of them,” Tomko said. “I’ve been notorious for that my whole career, beating myself up after bad games, worrying about what’s coming up five or six days from now. It’s been a 180-degree turn for me.”
Or, as he calls it, a “big piece of the puzzle.”
Jaeger still has never met Tomko in person, but was an interested observer on Aug. 26 when Tomko took the mound in Miami to face the Marlins.
Through a phone conversation set up the day before by Tomko’s agent, Jaeger — who has worked with pitchers such as the A’s Barry Zito, San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman and the Giants’ Scott Eyre–gave Tomko a briefing on Far-Eastern influenced breathing patterns and concentration techniques, as well as daily exercises to keep his focus.
“The cool thing with Brett was that he was so open and ready,” Jaeger said. “What I told him to do, he basically embraced.
“He dropped any sort of opinions, listened and followed through.”
While Tomko pitched a four-hitter for his first career shutout, “I watched the whole game on the computer,” Jaeger said. “It just blew my mind.”
Tomko has the lowest ERA in the National League in September (0.82) and has equaled a career-best five-game winning streak, which includes the first two complete games of his career. Meanwhile, the rest of the rotation has been rejuvenated, earning six consecutive wins through Friday, its longest such streak of the season.
Perhaps that’s just what the Giants were looking for from Tomko, who has become the anchor to a rotation that’s fashioned its finest stretch of the season. Tomko (10-6, 4.26) has taken the torch from Cy Young candidate Jason Schmidt, who has struggled in four of his five starts since straining his right groin Aug. 17, and become the rotation’s centerpiece during the stretch run.
Tomko, who has a 72-57 lifetime record in eight seasons with five teams, is 9-2 since coming off the disabled list June 25 after a mild elbow injury.
Jaeger says mental strengthening is undiscovered in the sports world, and Tomko agrees.
“Ninety-five percent of athletes are consistent physically, but inconsistent mentally,” Jaeger said. “The mind is the wild card.”
