Former Mt. St. Joe's Standout Floyd Using Past Struggles as a Positive

Every time Gavin Floyd takes the mound—every time he throws a pitch—he’s grateful for the opportunity to play in the big leagues. Floyd, a former standout at Mount Saint Joseph, has cemented himself as a reliable starter over the last four seasons in the Chicago White Sox rotation.

However, for all the recent success he’s enjoyed, the 28-year-old right hander hasn’t forgotten the disappointment and frustration that underscored his first few years of pro ball. A first round pick (the fourth overall) by Philadelphia in 2001, Floyd never lived up to his sky-high billing, didn’t see eye-to-eye with Phillies’ brass and struggled mightily during his  five seasons in the organization.

In 2006, the Phillies dealt the struggling hurler to Chicago and Floyd got the fresh start he so badly needed. Over four-plus seasons, the 6’6, 240-pounder is 48-43 with the White Sox (including a stellar 17-8 season in 2008), yet rather than lament his time in Philadelphia and hold a grudge, he’s thankful for the struggles and says they’ve impacted him in a positive way.

What went wrong in Philadelphia?

“It was a lot of things,” said the soft spoken Floyd, who, despite his imposing figure, labels himself a ‘fade into the background type guy.’

“There’s only so much you control and I think I put a lot of pressure on myself and tried to change a lot and listened to a lot of things and took them to heart. I think the combination of those two just snowballed, mechanically and mentally, the wrong way. But then again, if I never went through that, I would not be the person I am today.”  

One of those “things” Floyd referred to was the Phillies demand to change his throwing motion. As a result, he struggled to command his fastball, rendering his secondary pitches—including a big, breaking curveball—less effective.

With Floyd disappointing as a starter, the Phillies elected to try him as a reliever out of the bullpen, something his high school coach, Dave Norton, knew he wasn’t wired to do.

“He’s always been a person who needs 20-25 minutes [to get ready],” Norton said, referencing the short amount of time required of a reliever to prepare himself to enter a game, compared to a starting pitcher who has all afternoon prior to the game ready himself mentally and physically.

“The White Sox went back to his natural mechanics, used him as a starter and he went back to being successful. I put the blame on the Phillies,” Norton said. “They asked him to do something that just wasn’t going to work.”

Norton enjoys reminiscing about Floyd’s outings back at Mt. St. Joe’s where as many as 30 to 40 scouts would come out to see the high-schooler pitch on any given night.

“When he would throw there’d be a hush over the entire [crowd] and you could hear the ball whiz going through the wind and then bang! Hit the glove,” Norton said. “It was awesome to be part of that.”

The coach also recalls Floyd’s stellar work ethic, something that hasn’t faded as the pitcher has made his way up the big league ladder. Following practice, Floyd would routinely stay late to run “poles”, outfield sprints from foul pole to foul pole.

Now, having made his way to the highest level, Floyd isn’t about to let his training and preparation diminish.

“That’s one thing that you can control in this game, your focus your mental preparation, how hard you work,” Floyd said. “Once you release the ball, you give all your focus, all your energy and all your effort and whatever happens, happens. One thing I can control is hard how I work and I try to push myself as hard as possible.”  

Ironically, Floyd has taken hard work and determination and stuck it to his hometown team. The Annapolis native, who grew up an Oriole fan, has had some of his most effective performances in Baltimore, boasting a 3-0 record and a 2.28 ERA in his starts at Camden Yards. He picked up his most recent victory on Tuesday.

“It’s always fun coming back,” Floyd said of the opportunity to pitch in front of family and friends. “Every time I come back there are memories and thoughts and feelings of being back in the old stomping grounds. It’s always exciting to come back here and play in a ballpark you came to watch as a fan.”

Regardless of where he’s pitching or who he’s pitching for (although there are no reasons to indicate it won’t be for Chicago any time soon), Floyd will continue to value his time as a major leaguer and bear in mind the mental and emotional tests that came prior to his success.

“I’m just thankful to be out there every start and be able to get the chance to play,” Floyd said. “We’re very fortunate to be at this level and be able to play and try to have fun. It is a blessing and you just try to treat everyday like it’s your last.”